Sports

What sports are popular in the United States?
Baseball, basketball, and American football (which is quite different from soccer) are the most popular team sports both to watch and play in the United States. Golf, tennis, and bowling are among some of the popular individual sports.

Sports in general are tremendously popular in American culture. If you would like to know more about a certain sport, ask an American friend to explain the rules to you.

Where can I go to exercise?
Your school may have a recreation or exercise center with a swimming pool, weight room, sauna, gymna-sium, tennis and racquetball courts, basketball courts, and sometimes even a track for running. Many schools also have aerobics classes, in which the group does exercises to music. If there is no such center on your campus, you may want to join the local YMCA, YWCA, or a private health club, though membership in such clubs can be expensive.

What if I want to play team sports?
Most schools sponsor intramural teams for students who want to play basketball, volleyball, softball, football, and even soccer. In some cases you will need to form your own team, made up of friends, residents of your dormitory, or students with the same major. These teams offer a good way to have fun and meet people. If your school doesn’t have such activities, check with your city’s recreation department.

Fun

What can I do for entertainment?
Schools have social activities going on almost every day, including drama, lectures, concerts, movies, dances, parties, club meetings, and sporting events. You may find that your American friends would rather “go out and do something” than just sit and talk. Even while at home, Americans often prefer to play games or watch television together.

You probably won’t have to travel far to go sightseeing. Consult your local chamber of commerce or visitor’s bureau, or ask your American friends about interesting places in your area.

 Dress

What are some guidelines for dress?
For most social occasions, especially among college and university students, blue jeans or casual slacks are proper for both men and women. Occasions such as a wedding banquet, some church services, or dinner in a nice restaurant require semi-formal clothing (suits for men, dresses for women). For some semi-formal occasions, you may wish to wear your native dress. If you’re not sure what clothing to wear, ask an American friend what he or she would wear.

How should a man and woman treat each other in the United States?
Although men’s and women’s roles are changing, it is common in formal situations for a man to open the door for a woman or help her with a coat, and a man may pay for a woman’s meal or ticket on a date.

Most American men and women have learned to treat each other as equals, each deserving the same amount of respect and fair treatment in any situation.

How do I make friends of the opposite sex?
What you see on television or in the movies is not normal for American relationships between men and women. Many American students prefer group activities rather than “one-on-one” dating. Don’t feel that you have to date to make friends of the opposite sex. You may enjoy activities with a group of male and female friends more than going out with a single person of the opposite sex, especially if dating is not the custom in your country.

Who pays when friends go out together?
Americans often go out together with each person paying his or her own part of the cost. This is sometimes called “Dutch treat” or “going Dutch.” If you don’t know whether you are expected to pay for yourself, ask the person with whom you are going out.

Generally, the only times you should pay for the other person are when a man asks a woman out on a date or when you take someone out for his or her birthday or farewell party. Also, if a person is doing job-related work during lunch and asks a co-worker to join him or her, the person who asks usually pays for the meal.