亲爱的国际学生 ...

I’m from a small town near Johannesburg, 南非. 当我知道我快要醒过来的时候 the United States for college, I had some ideas about what life would be like. 但 there were several aspects that truly caught me by surprise.

For my fellow international students, or anyone else curious about American culture, here a few things that made me laugh, smile or shake my head.

电影引用

Growing up, I watched hundreds of American movies. 在众多的主题和模式中， there’s one in particular that always stood out to me: movie references. 

Two characters meet on a train or at a party. To break the ice, the first character opens the conversation with a movie or book reference. 不知怎么的，第二个角色， a complete stranger, always knows the exact reference!

Being from a different culture, this seemed super cheesy and unrealistic ... 直到 我来到了美国. Picture me now at Skidmore, rushing to get somewhere when, from a stranger I hear, “Run, Forrest, run!” Completely stopped by the absurdity of it, 我忍不住笑了. 

I guess once you’re in America, you may find yourself saying, “Toto, I've got a feeling 我们已经不在堪萨斯了.”

友好

I come from a country that believes in Ubuntu, “I am because you are,” so I’m no stranger 关心我的社区. 但 my understanding of kindness reached superhero levels 当我来到火博体育时.

Here, people hold doors open not just for the next person, but for the next and the 下一个，下一个.

My professors emphasize mutual respect and that we are whole people with different 生活经历.

Bosses, managers and even the people who make my lunch go out of their way to say, “嘿，NK，你今天过得怎么样?” 但 even more remarkable is that they 也 问:“你感觉怎么样?和“一切都还好吗??“它们比礼貌更深层次.

It’s not that other countries in the world are full of rude people with no hospitality, but the rumors are true: Americans smile more, and people here really do care.  

My time here wouldn’t nearly as beautiful if it weren’t for the people who shared 他们的善良. 

熟悉成年人

At home, we are taught to preface names with “Sisi” (sister) or “Bhuti” (brother) when talking to or referring to someone who is older than you. 从小到大，我从来没有 knew my parents’ or grandparents’ first names because we just call them by their titles. 

Because of this, it was initially strange and uncomfortable when professors introduced 他们用自己的名字称呼自己.  

但 these days I find myself saying, “Hi, Peter!当我和我的教授打招呼时 doesn’t feel as foreign as it used to.   

这么多选择

I remember seeing grocery stores in movies and I was super excited to go to Walmart. 但 let me put it directly: I had no idea how big Walmart actually is. 它是巨大的. 巨大的. 你可能会迷路.

I still get overwhelmed with the options on the shelves. 我的朋友哀叹 me along because I simply cannot choose from the 30 different cereal boxes or the 15种奥利奥口味.  

Don’t get me wrong, having 15种奥利奥口味 is pretty exciting and I can personally attest to trying each and every one. 但有时我确实怀念那些简单的日子 没有决策疲劳.

Fear not though, soon you’ll be an expert empowered by your choices, and Oreo thins (也许)会开始有意义吗.

没有公制

We all know America doesn’t use the metric system. 这就像美国101. 但我是 surprised by how much of a role it would play in my experience here. 

我真的可以n’t wait to get here to find out how tall I am in feet and inches. 也许这很傻， but there is something cooler about saying “I am 5 feet, 3 inches tall,” than saying, “我是1。.6米高.”

Regardless of how cool it sounds, I still get confused. 我的大脑还在运作 meters and I have built-in metric-based mental pictures for what sizes are like.

例如，我知道2是多少.2米高的人长什么样. 我没有参考资料 一个6英尺高的人. And don’t even get me started when you say your suitcase weighs 50磅.

You can survive without mastering the system here, but you can’t survive without learning that people drive on the other side of the road. 那是必需品. 

在美国的生活

My time at Skidmore has brought about some of the most incredible and most challenging 到目前为止我生命中的瞬间. 但我不会有别的选择.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you are not alone. 火博体育的国际 student community is a family of brothers and sisters.

And we all laugh together when our dear American friends sign off by saying, “May 原力与你同在.”