a day in the life of an average american

From home to work and back

7 a.m. – GET UP!!• Morning News• Wake up the kids!• Shower

• Get kids readyfor school

• Read News Paper or Watch Morning News

Eat Breakfast

• Eggs and pancakes• Cereal• Doughnuts• COFFEE!!• Orange Juice• Do not drink tea

8 a.m. Family Splits Up for the Day

8 a.m. Dad Drives to Work• Leaves for work, gets

stuck in traffic

• Often takes 20-60 minutes to get to work, 10-40 kilometers

• In most cities, everyone uses cars. Only in very big cities do many people use buses or trains

8 a.m. Dad Drives to Work

• Starbucks• Morning Radio

8 a.m. Mom and Kids

• Mom takes kids to school, or kids ride school bus• Many high schoolers drive to school

9 a.m. Dad arrives to Work

• Dad arrives to work and makes his schedule for the day, often drinks more coffee

9 a.m. Mom Cares for Home

• Picture of mom cleaning the house, making beds

• Mom takes care of the house. She cleans and organizes, makes the beds, etc.

• Many mothers are educated, but choose to be housewives

9 a.m. Kids Start Class for the Day

• Young children often have play time or are read stories in the morning

• Older kids start their first classes immediately.

10 a.m. Dad has many Meetings

• American office work often involves many meetings throughout the day to plan and make decisions.

10 a.m. Mom Doing Laundry• Mom has to do

laundry for whole family!

• Americans use both clothes washers and dryers

11:30 am: Dad Doing Work, Taking Calls

• Office work also involves communicating with many people: coordinating efforts of colleagues, making sure customers are happy, and finding new customers

11:30 a.m. Mom Works Out

• Many moms will exercise

• Lots of Americans have home gyms (treadmills, weight training, etc.)

• Private gyms are everywhere

11:30 a.m. Kids still at School

• Little kids usually eat lunch before noon– More healthy food, many paid

school lunch programs

High schoolers eat in the afternoonFries, Coca-Cola, Pizza, snacks, donuts, daily entrees

1 p.m. Dad Eats Later

• Working Americans often don’t eat until the afternoon

• Many will eat at their desk, but also go to business lunches

1 p.m. Mom Runs Errands

• Car wash• Mail out bill payments• Dry cleaning

1 p.m. Kids at School

• Little kids have recess• High schoolers continue with classes

2 p.m. Dad Continues with Work

• Dad is still plugging away in the office: taking calls, answering emails, talking to colleagues

2 p.m. Mom Schedules Day

• Kids have many activities, such as sports, music lessons, tutoring, birthday parties, going to library, studying, doctor appointments

• Mom will schedule these things for the next day

2 p.m. School Assemblies

• Little kids sometimes have guest speakers

• High schoolers have pep rallies for football or basketball team

3:30 p.m. Dad Gets Assignment

• My brother, dad, and brother-in-law (my sister’s husband) all travel frequently for work

3:30 p.m. Mom Picks Up Kids• School day ends around 3:30 p.m. in most of

the U.S.• Mom will pick kids up from school, or they will

take the school bus

4 p.m. Dad Has More Meetings

• Exhausting, isn’t it?

4 p.m. Mom Takes Kids to Activities

• Dentist or Doctor Appointment

5 p.m. Dad Deals with Problem

• Customer did not receive shipment, Dad stops other work and contacts FedEx, offers customer incentive to keep them happy

5 p.m. Mom Takes Kids to Activities

• Highschooler stays at school for music lessons

• Mom takes boy to baseball practice

6 p.m. Dad Finally Leaves Work

• Gets stuck in afternoon gridlock traffic

6 p.m. Mom Grocery Shops

• Mom will go to grocery store 2-3 times a week. Buys many processed foods (boxed or packaged), and some fresh foods

• We do not have road or sidewalk food stands

6:15 p.m. Dad Still Stuck in Traffic

•AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

6:30 p.m. Mom Starts Dinner• Mom puts away

groceries, starts to make dinner

• Americans also eat at restaurants A LOT. (Recent statistics show Americans spend more on restaurant food than healthcare.)

• Many restaurants available (Mexican, Chinese, Steakhouse, Italian, Fast Food, Pizza, and many others)

6:30 p.m. Kids Play With Friends

• Neighborhood kids often play together, riding bikes, sports, video games, watch T.V.

7:15 p.m. Dad Gets Home

• Relax, or do chores like mow the lawn, fix things in house, spend time with kids or wife, or do more office work

7:30 p.m. Family Comes Back Together

Mom and Dad tell each other about their day

Kids come home from playing, get ready for dinner

After 8 p.m.

• Kids will do homework or watch T.V.

• Mom and Dad watch T.V. or surf the internet

Bedtime!

• Kids and Mom will often go to bed earlier than Dad, around 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m.

• Dad might go to bed between 10 p.m. and midnight

This is only average!• People live many, many different lifestyles• Different jobs require different activities• Americans are largely under slept, and don’t take

naps during the day• Many do more work after dinner, and on

weekends and holidays• Some parents make kids spend lots of time on

school work, others spend very little time.• Some Americans telecommute for work: work

from home, video conferencing

Differences with Chinese

• Most people have cars, even teenagers• Very few Americans go home during the day• Americans often don’t take lunch breaks at

the same time• Everyone I know has a laptop! We use email

and use the internet A LOT for information and entertainment.

• Against the law to smoke almost anywhere except in car, home, and outside.

Questions?

• My email address: sean.cauffiel@gmail.com

• My QQ: 752365754