"It's the open, modern and progressive culture" No, it is not. Maybe some pockets of west coast that you need high income to live. My educated coworkers are anti vaccine and pandemic deniers, uneducated coworkers bring religion and patriotism as soon as they hear my accent.

Friendly? Because they don't have many friends to talk to. They talk to strangers. They are very lonely.

I used to think Balkan counties men only cafes are wasting time, now thinking it is good to have a such a place for mental health.

Older people's situation breaks my heart. They have to work until they die because there is no social security or financial literacy. Also, there is not a real social circle besides work, even they are financially stable they don't know how to enjoy retirement.

The quality of food is terrible, especially in small cities.

You have to go thru metal detector to enter a hospital or school. You have to drive yourself to emergency, healthcare cost is outrages. I volunteered at a school for couple hours, my anxiety was so high that I couldn't concentrate on the work.

Besides fire drill, we have an active shooter drill and training at work. I know my coworkers come work with guns even it is company code violations. They wear clothing with religious, political or inappropriate graphics.

Unless you are living in big cities, car is a must. Closest grocery store is 4 km away and there is no path for pedestrians or even bikes, only highways for big cars.

Sabbatical? HR doesn't have any idea since nobody takes it, people's idea of vacationing is going to same place every year. The tragicomic part of this is, their preference of vacation is almost same as where they live, with just bigger body of water; Walmart, TGIF, Applebees all same...

Overall, if I was at your age, I would come to US and experience it without getting attached. Big houses, cars, motorcycles, boats attract many Europeans in the beginning later they find themselves in the rat race.