Why We Left The USA After 7 Months Of Life — Personal Experience

Cool business opportunities and at the same time the habit of living on credit; smiling, which often hides hypocrisy; propaganda of fast food and cheap cars — Karina Kirillova tells how she and her family moved to the United States, and then returned back.

The world is largely deceived by the “warming up” to move to the United States.

— My name is Karina Kirillova. I am 31 years old. I am married and we have three children. By education, I have a Bachelor of Theology, studied at the Minsk Theological Institute. I am professionally engaged in marketing, targeted advertising and promotion on Facebook — I have my own school and already have more than a thousand students who have successfully completed their studies and work as freelancers.

In 2020, we decided to move to Poland — we lived there for two years, and then we had the opportunity to fly to America. Since it was my husband’s dream, we went to another location change.

— The migration process was quite easy for us: we applied for American visas for the first time in our lives and received them with the whole family.

In general, it is difficult to rent a house in the United States for the first time due to the lack of such experience, taxpayer numbers, and so on – you need to count on frequent refusals. Therefore, as people who are already experienced in moving, we started looking for options in advance — about three months before this significant event. We found and rented a 1800 sq.f. house (unfurnished) for $2,260 per month.

However, there was another nuance:due to the lack of a credit history, we had to make a payment 8 months in advance, so the amount was immediately impressive — about $17,000. Also, if you have pets, you need to make an additional deposit of about one monthly payment in case of any damage during eviction.

The cities with the cheapest rentals in America

— In general, if we compare the cost of living in the USA and in In Poland, then you can safely multiply all the sums by four. This applies to everything from food to clothes. We often noticed that the price is the same, but here in zlotys, and there in dollars. For example, in Poland we can go to lunch for 100 zloty (~$25) for two, and in That would be $80-100 in America.

Of course, we know that some people move here without any money at all and somehow survive, but if you want to move and maintain the standard of living that you are used to, it is very expensive. Some people have to sell apartments in their former place of life in order to afford such a more or less comfortable move. Finances have never been a problem for us, so perhaps we immediately saw a completely different America.

— So, in June 2023, we flew out of Poland to America, namely South Carolina. We quickly realized that America is not the limit of our dreams and realized that the world was largely deceived by the “warming up” to move to this country; most of our friends dream of leaving there, but cannot because of the accumulated loans and other circumstances. In no case are we discouraging anyone and we know that many people really like it here, we just want to share our opinion.

But before I tell you about the reasons for our return to Poland, we want to talk about the advantages of living in the USA, which are also certainly enough.

Roads.We traveled the entire coast several times from Florida to New York, we have been to many states, and I would like to say that the roads (at least connecting the cities) are very steep. It feels like a runway. Due to this, cars last much longer and wear out less.
Cheap cars, especially European ones. This is due to the fact that domestic cars are more appreciated here. Therefore, buying BMW, Mercedes and so on here, you can save a lot.
The climate varies throughout the country — from very hot to very cold. Mountains, ocean, rivers, lakes — everything is at your disposal.
The opportunity to earn more. Many, for example, working for hire in their country, received $ 500, but here, with the same efforts, they can earn $5,000 already. Accordingly, you can quickly get the first loan for your own home.
Smiling and friendly. Although this is often just hypocrisy. The fact is that during the Great Depression in the United States there was an unspoken law that people should smile at each other, even if they feel bad. That is, they were forced to be happy, while they actually might not feel such feelings.
Love of holidays. I liked the Americans’ approach to holidays — it’s such a huge part of the local culture. For them, holidays are a real joy of life, within which they decorate houses, streets, and establishments very coolly. In such scenery, you feel like in a fairy tale.
Cleanliness in good villages.We have always been clean: a perfect lawn, smooth grass, the purest asphalt. And this also applies to the house itself. That is, the amount of garbage, dirt, sand and dust that I could collect in America during the cleaning in a month, I collect in Poland in three days. I do not know what this is related to. Perhaps due to the fact that in America, in principle, there are few open-ground plots, and basically everything is very well sown with grass. But this, of course, does not apply to establishments, the inside of which is almost always dirty.
Great business and money-making opportunities. There are different forms of ownership and accounting, which allows thinking people to quickly build a profitable model for any business. That is why one of our goals was to open a business in the USA. We opened a company there remotely back in Europe — by the way, anyone can do it, nothing is impossible.

Therefore, yes, there are definitely things that we liked, but they absolutely did not outweigh all the disadvantages.

The reasons why we left America and couldn’t live there

— We left the USA after 7 months of living there. And here’s why:

Insecurity and child theft.There are a lot of disadvantaged people around, despite the fact that we lived in a very expensive area. You can’t literally take your eyes off a child here. Notifications about the theft of children in the area are constantly coming to your phone — you are just in constant anxiety for them. Plus, due to the lack of public transport, you have to constantly be a taxi driver for your children; and even in cities where there is public transport, no one would even think of sending a child on it, because it is dangerous.
High loyalty to the use of prohibited substances. It makes you wonder repeatedly if this is your place to live. Especially when there are children.
Gender education.Of course, we’ve heard a lot about it, but you start to think seriously when you come across something like this personally. Of course, the situation varies from state to state, but even living in a conservative Republican state, you have to choose a private or Christian school for children if you don’t want them to be told there that they can be anyone regardless of their gender — a girl, a boy or even a seal. We have friends from democratic states who tell us that they put a cat tray in school toilets there and say that considering themselves a cat or a dog, they can easily approach and relieve themselves; and in lessons they are allowed to lick their paws — this is normal, because they consider themselves a cat. Also, every day you can hear news from the category “the teacher wrote an official letter to all parents that now she is not a woman, but a man, and asks them to call her Mr. so-and-so from now on.”
Low level of service. In 90% of establishments it is dirty, shoes stick to the floor, as if coke was recently poured on it. We’ve been to many places, and not in the same state. And even in very expensive establishments, the staff does not do their job very well. I think this is partly due to the fact that tips are already included in the diet, so the waiters do not need to try to please the guests.
The untidiness of people.It’s not about brands or anything like that, but about basic neatness and personal hygiene. They write to us in the comments that this is their culture, but we believe that this is its absence under the guise of “I want it that way”, “I express myself that way”, “I like it that way”. Here, in our opinion, the concept of freedom is greatly distorted: that is, if a person goes poorly dressed and smelling, this is his freedom, and I have the right to express my opinion about this as if I no longer have it. I believe that freedom should end where other people’s freedom begins.
Fake smiles and duplicity.This is the reverse side of that smile. That is, it gives the impression of a plastic society in a sense. It’s a completely normal situation when people greet you in person and ask how you’re doing, and then they go around the corner and call the police on you. Our family has personally experienced this several times. For example, when we rented a trailer and drove up to our own house for literally 20 minutes to unload oversized furniture, the neighbors had already called a tow truck. By the way, children have been taught this since school — to complain. There is a rule here: “whoever complained first is right.” We don’t understand this.
Promotion of fast food.We do not like the promotion of unhealthy food in the United States, because in fact fast food is the national food of Americans. When this surrounds you everywhere, a person with already formed eating habits, willy-nilly begins to reach for cola, hamburgers, pizza and so on. Moreover, all this is sold in huge packages, and accordingly, a lot of food is thrown away. I also need to tell you here that in the USA food is divided into “organic” and “non-organic”. And of course, “organic” is much more expensive. This is despite the fact that you still can’t fully know how and where it was actually grown.
The habit of living on credit.People here do not go into loans out of poverty, it is simply vital to have a credit line, the so-called credit score. Otherwise, they will be suspicious of you and will be able to sell little, considering you insolvent. And it’s also interesting that getting such a credit card after coming here is also not an easy task — we haven’t been able to do it in six months. Why? Because we don’t have a credit history. And to have it, you need a credit card. It turns out to be a vicious circle. And the most amazing thing is that in some stores, even grocery stores, they only accept credit cards, that is, it is basically impossible to pay with a debit card there. When you want to buy, for example, a refrigerator and try to pay in cash, people look at you with disbelief, because such things are usually taken on credit.
The “conservatism” of organizational structures. It was a shock to me that very often I had to deal with a non-working Apple Pay at the checkout. In the country where the iPhone was invented. The amount of paper that is used for any reason is also upsetting — bundles of paper letters are constantly coming to the home address, whereas there has been an email for a long time.
A complex medical system.Any body movement in the USA is worth a lot of money: an ambulance call costs $900 dollars, an ultrasound scan — from $ 1000. My good friend had appendicitis cut out for $30,000; friends had an accident, after which they received a bill of $ 9,000 for the examination (insurance did not cover it). The cheaper the insurance, the higher the risk of “getting on the money.” And many do not have it at all.
The feeling of loneliness due to the lack of time for a deep and lasting relationship. Firstly, people here have to work too much just to survive and manage to cover their loans; secondly, the mentality also plays a role: they are more closed, they do not particularly like to receive guests, you need to arrange a meeting with them very much in advance. That is, they have their own house, plot, garage and they are comfortable to close there and spend their free time like that.

Of course, I don’t want to make some kind of anti-American advertisement — by no means. This is our experience, and we are incredibly grateful to it. Perhaps you will like this rhythm of life, you will find your own track, friends, and you will be fine.

Our family always adheres to the main rule: if you don’t like it, change it. Actually, now we are living in the Poland is a place that is completely suitable for us and responds in all respects. And we also completely revised our environment and began to appreciate the incredibly open and kind people around us more.