In order to learn the American culture, I have had to ask many times about many things since I first came here, but one was obvious to me without having to ask about it; most Americans love coffee. Certainly, I did not have to do any research about this, just look at the Starbucks’ lines on campus, for example, usually during lunchtime and that tells it all.
It is a fact that coffee is a popular drink across age groups. Statistics show that Americans consume over 400 million cups of coffee every day. That is a lot of cups of coffee considering that the total population of the United States is a little over 300 million. Who is drinking all that coffee? Just look around you. (Do you have a cup in front of you right now?)
I admit I used to drink coffee back home, but that was very rare and in small amounts. In America, there is no such a thing as a small amount or a small cup of coffee. You either get a tall cup of coffee, grande, venti or trenta! And for someone who doesn’t know what any of these mean, good luck figuring it out. I remember when I first came here and ordered a cup of coffee and the person asked me what kind of coffee I wanted, how many shots, and what size? I was confused because I did not know what any of that had to do with my coffee, and said to myself, “that’s too many questions for a small cup of coffee!” Well, not knowing the U.S. system of measurements, I ended up with a 16 oz cup of coffee in my hands, and hoped she had made a mistake; she did not!