For a long time I’ve wanted to collect examples of the most glaring cultural and practical differences between the USA and Ukraine.

On this fine, warm, windy November morning, Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election was announced.

Today I managed to get things sorted at the DMV in a single visit for the first time — I came prepared, read all the fine print, noticed that the application form needed to be signed by the insurance company — and got that handled over the phone in about 20 minutes (ha, an unheard-of speed). I arrived at the DMV 45 minutes before closing without an appointment, waited in a short line, got a ticket for the electronic queue, waited my turn, and handed over a stack of documents (and a fair amount of tax money) — and instead of the usual “you’re still missing the left pinky nail of a chaste dragon” — I actually received the documents. Wonders never cease.

Disclaimer#

This article is based on limited experience of both Ukrainian and American cultural and practical knowledge.

Some phone spammers unexpectedly mangled my name.

in its volume part — it will make perfect sense to programmers.

“Come and get it, prices slashed!” — that’s basically what an email from Amazon was screaming at me about a grand sale on all sorts of stuff from WD and SanDisk.

We bought some furniture on Amazon — specifically, a couple of small tables.

Miles, pounds, Fahrenheit…

There is so much to do that there is not always time to write down thoughts when they arise. And then you forget them.

Paper sheet sizes are different — trying to photocopy something from A4 is a whole task. Dates are written differently, outlets are different… It seems like driving on the right side of the road is the only familiar thing left.

Among the unfamiliar things I especially wanted to note… well, what did I want to note… I forgot.