This Isn't Kansas, Dorothy.
How often have you traveled to another place and for a few days or weeks experienced the pleasures of tasting a different cuisine, hearing another language, or seeing the architectural style of another culture?
Sera Streiff-Vena's Level Three Academic Writing and Grammar Class at the University of Central Arkansas (not Kansas) describes their observations and experiences living in Arkansas as full-time students for the Planet IEP readers. (By the way, the headline of this page is taken from the 1930s movie, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. The story begins in Kansas, but soon moves far away into the magical realm of Oz.)
Different Rules
and Ways of Studying.
By Tzveta Koicheva from Bulgaria
When I came to the university in the U.S. for the first time, I was in shock and surprised at the same time. Many things were different here from universities in Bulgaria.
One of the things that shocked me was how many buildings there are for all the different classes. I was trying to remember every building, but in the beginning it was impossible. There is one more thing about every building: this is the air conditioning. Even now, I can't relax in the classrooms at this moment because of the cold temperature inside. But imagine my surprise when I went to the library and saw computers for everything in each room! Now I can do my homework on the computers every time I need it.
My schedule is the second thing that confused me. There are too many classes per day, and for every class, I have homework. Also, I have to study difficult subjects like math, health education, literature, and history in regular classes.
It was interesting for me that I must have a good reason to miss a class. I have to be on time for every class, too. All of these rules were strange for me in the beginning.
In summary, I think that all of these are strange for the new Bulgarian students, but this is our chance to learn to be serious and get organized.
Americans and Bulgarians
Look Different.
By Teodor Dimitrov from Bulgaria
There are many differences between American and Bulgarian people, but I would like to write about the differences in their appearance. One of the biggest shocks I had when I came to the USA was how totally different the American people look from the Bulgarian people.
For example, the fashion style is so free here that a person can wear anything that he or she wants to wear. I have some experience with that since I am a musician. When I have a concert, I have to wear special clothes. However, one time I had a concert with other people here and there were Americans who wore T-shirts and jeans. I could not believe that! If I showed up dressed like that back home, my teachers would not permit me to go on stage. That was strange for me. Even today I cannot see why American people do not care how they are dressed.
Not only clothes shocked me, but all the people with different colored skin here! In my country we do not have many black people and we do not know too much about their culture. Therefore, we can get into big trouble here if we are not careful how we talk with them. There are also many fat people in the USA. In Bulgaria we have almost no fat people since we don't have much fast food.
You can see why all these differences in appearance gave me my biggest shock when I came to the USA.
East Meets West
at the Dinner Table.
By Nobuko Sato from Japan
Japanese and American people have very different food and cooking customs.
One day, I made sandwiches for lunch for my American husband because sandwiches are a common food in my country and America. First, I made a peanut butter sandwich because I thought Americans like peanut butter. Then he said, "We don't eat peanut butter alone with bread." Next time, I made a strawberry jam sandwich with butter, but he didn't eat that sandwich either. After that, I learned that peanut butter should be with strawberry jam. Japanese don't eat many peanut butter sandwiches.
The other day, I cooked bacon for him. I used to stir fry bacon in my country, too, with vegetables and fried rice. I made lunch again for my husband, but he said, "This bacon is raw! You need to cook it more." His family said, "Raw bacon is very dangerous. We will show you how to cook bacon". Then they showed me bacon cooking. I thought it was almost burned.
We eat lots of raw food in my country, but it sometimes makes Americans feel strange or shocked. I feel that Americans do such strange things also. I guess I will keep learning more about how to prepare American food!
Food Problem.
By Hun Loon Chuah from Malaysia.
Most Malaysian students have difficulties with the food found in the U.S. Many Malaysians can't understand why Americans have their dinner at 5:00 p.m. That is the tea break time for Malaysians while their dinnertime is 7:00 p.m.
Furthermore, you can look for food anytime in Malaysia, as there are stalls open at midnight for people who work at night or people who feel hungry at midnight.
While Americans have their heavy breakfast early, Malaysians have a light breakfast or no breakfast at all, but they have a heavy lunch and dinner.
There are also differences between western food and Asian food. Western food that can be found in Malaysian is mostly fast food. Especially the chain restaurants like McDonalds' and KFC have become popular in Malaysia.
But Malaysian students can hardly find hot and spicy food in the UCA cafeteria. There are no chili sauces that can be added to French fries, burgers, chicken wings, or nuggets. Also, they don't have choices on hot drinks like tea and coffee. Therefore, Malaysian students have difficulties with the food when they are in a new environment.
Confusing Language.
By Maya Kovacev from Serbia Montenegro.
Today international students have so many problems with communication, but the most important problem is accent differences.
Here in Arkansas I hear three different kinds of accents everyday: black people, white people, and other international students.
I had a very funny experience with black people. Once I met a black student at a party, and we started talking. Because of the loud music, he didn't understand what I was saying and he asked me: "Wha…?" and I said, "Sorry…?" and he asked me again. So I was confused because I didn't know what he asked me: "Why?" or "What?"
They have a different language and accent than white American students. White students have a typical Arkansas accent, so when I came here I didn't have too many problems in conversation with them.
But international students have conversation problems with other international students. For example, when I was talking with my friend from Africa about animals, he said "Ors." I was confused but after a few minutes, I figured out that he wanted to tell me, "horse." That was very funny.
I like all accents of Americans and internationals because they are similar but different, too.
International Students and
Some of Their Problems.
By Jose Daniel Farina from Venezuela.
International students have problems understanding Americans' slang and pronunciation. Usually they have problems because they learned British English at home, so when they come to America, they don't know many other words or expressions that are not in the dictionary.
Their meaning is the same as other words that they probably know. For example, a lot of people in Arkansas say the word "wanna" which means "want to" or "gonna" which means "going to." They use many expressions like "It/she/he/they/you (is/are) killing me!!!," when actually they mean that they are having a hard time.
Also, besides the slang, international students find a different pronunciation or accent when they arrive here. For example, in Arkansas most of the people instead of saying, "you all," they say, "ya'll," or instead of saying, "What are you planning to do?" they say, "What are you fixing to do?"
In conclusion, for most of the international students, it is hard to understand the Americans because of their slang and pronunciation.
Food Difficulties.
By Wen Hui Yang from Taiwan.
International students have culture shock and problems with food in the United States. When I came here, I couldn’t eat a lot of food because there are different kinds of food, tastes, and eating customs.
In the first year, I had many problems with food. American food and Asian food are different. Americans usually eat uncooked vegetables, but Asians eat cooked vegetables. Besides, I couldn’t find many kinds of Asian food.
I can’t believe how Americans eat so many desserts, such as pudding, doughnuts, and cake. That is quite terrible for the body. They are too sweet!! Fast food is a symbol for Americans. They eat a lot of fast food, such as pizza, hamburgers, and French fries. These could be unhealthy because they are not fresh food and are fried in oil.
I don’t understand Americans' eating customs. Why do they eat dinner at 5:00 p.m. when we eat dinner at 7:00? That is too early for me! I know all the Americans use silverware for each meal, but we use chopsticks. That is a different way to get food. For example, Americans use soupspoons to eat soup, but we don’t need any tableware. We just hold our soup bowl to drink soup. I use chopsticks when I eat noodles but Americans use forks.
Although, international students have culture shock problems with food, we can overcome them. We can learn some new American food customs and it will be great!!
Problems with Body Language.
By Maya Kovacev from Serbia Montenegro.
People's common medium through which we communicate on a daily basis is body language. We can express ourselves using our movements and gestures. There is different body language just as there are different spoken languages.
When international students come to the United States, they have problems understanding American's body language. Usually emotions such as anger, happiness, sadness, or peoples' appearance (posture, composure, facial expressions) are shown through body language
From personal experience as a foreign exchange student, some words in English might have another meaning in, for example, my native Serbian. The same is true with body language, and its use in different cultures. Many times body language can be misinterpreted and wrong conclusions drawn from the person's expression.
For example, upon my arrival here, I had the chance to meet in person an American for the first time in my life. She was my UCA tennis coach, Ms. Cendey Roberts. She was so excited to meet me that her excitement was demonstrated through her body language: screaming and jumping up and down.
The first impression that I got from her behavior was that there was definitely something wrong with her! However, after meeting with her, she seemed very normal and an interesting person. I was a witness to a different culture's body language! This might have led me to a wrong conclusion about my coach's wonderful personality. You can see how body language can cause misunderstandings for international students in the U.S.
Planet IEP is ruled by webmistress Freddie A. Bowles, Lecturer in English as a Second Language and German as a Foreign Language at the University of Central Arkansas. She is also Freshman Advisor for the Liberal Arts College at the University. An independent entity in the CornDancer consortium of planets, Planet IEP is dedicated to the study and exploration of the English language, American culture, and life in an American university for international students. Planet IEP also publishes essays and articles in appreciation of cultures from all reaches of Planet Earth. CornDancer is a developmental website for the mind and spirit. Submissions are invited.
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