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Talking about society - everything around here is structured and micromanaged. There are detailed laws, regulations and rules for everything. Needless to say, all these rules and regulations are firmly enforced. Society functions in a much more orderly manner than in Romania. This is a good thing in most part, although at times the whole system tends to suffocate someone who is not used to it. Sure, you're in the land of the free, but you're not free to do anything you want. Still, the system works pretty well, and I believe that the lack of this kind of social discipline is one of the main problems in Romania at present.

Efficiency is the keyword in all operations of Government institutions. Furthermore, you get the sense that all institutions try to help you, or at least try to get things done, which is more than a bit different than the mentality you find in Romanian institutions. One thing that surprised me, though, is that you won't escape red tape and bureaucracy in the U.S. You still get a ton of forms to fill out and all sorts of formalities to take care of when dealing with Government or private institutions. Reaching the right people and taking care of all formailities takes a whole lot of time, too. It's pretty tiresome. You even get queues (which are pretty rare in the U.S.), but at least they're organized queues: you are assigned a number, and wait patiently (which can mean hours) until your your number is called.

Going a step further, the level of infrastructure development in the U.S. is just amazing compared to Romanian standards. Quality infrastructure is an essential ingredient for profitable business and high standards of living, and around here this quality is pretty high. Take the internet, for instance, which is an integral part of American society and business. While in Romania the internet is still considered high-tech and is used by a fraction of the population, in the U.S. the internet is getting to the point where it's just another utility, not unlike electricity or running water. And I must say, it's a damn useful utility too. You can find anything on the internet. One especially useful feature is access to free Geographical Information Systems, or whatever the correct term might be for the mapping applications available on the web. Although the freeway system is complex, one does not need maps when driving in the U.S., as long as an internet connection is available. Just enter your starting and destination addresses in an application such as Yahoo Maps, and you get the detailed route including street names, turns, distances and estimated arrival times. This is just incredible. This system is also used by businesses on their websites, allowing you to find nearest Pizza Hut or grocery store and providing you with directions for driving to the place.

The internet makes life so much easier and in the U.S. it has reached that level where "it has to be seen to be believed" compared to Romanian standards. Everything is available on the web, from movie theater schedules to tourist attractions in various cities. And this is not to mention all the content and information which we all know is available on the web; I'm just talking about using the internet to make your everyday life easier. Furthermore, there's all the stuff you can do on the web, like paying your bills, banking, or ordering stuff. Using the web to order stuff is so much easier and convenient. We all know (or think we know) how cool sites like Amazon.com or Ebay.com can be, but you really have to use these sites on a regular basis to appreciate their usefulness.

Technology makes life easier in many ways. You have coin operated laundry and dryer machines to take care of your laundry (all apartment complexes have their own laundry machines); you have coin operated vending machines for snacks; ATM's are all over the place.

The U.S. postal service is incredibly good and useful, too. It's reliable, fast and professional, and probably light years ahead of its Romanian equivalent. Postal services, as well as electricity, gas and water are also very cheap, compared to typical wages. Utility expenses, which amount to such a high percentage of the Romanian cost of living, are almost negligible in the U.S.

One service that I would complain about is cell phone service. Quality is rather low, at least compared to Romanian standards. You get the signal dropped in most areas (even highly populated towns), some areas lack coverage altogether, and customer service is slow and at times not very useful. Most important, cell phone users are charged both when making and receiving calls. Weird.

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