Making adjustments: Four points of view on U.S. culture

By Risa Fukaya – Horizon News and Features Editor

Hesston College has a total of 56 international students from 17 countries this year. These freshmen have started living a completely different life, but their traditional customs still stick with them.

1) Harune Suzuki

Country: Japan

Q. What do you have here that is not in your country?
A. Food. Japanese people rarely eat cereal as breakfast. Japanese typical style is rice, miso soup, and fish (sometimes salmon)

Q. What are you missing?
A. Good transportation. In Japan, there are many choices for transportation. We can choose the train, subway, bus, taxi and so on. In a big city in Japan, it is e is possible to walk the distance between four or five stations.

Q. What was shocking for you after you arrived in the U.S.A.?
A. Sometimes people get in bed while wearing shoes. Japanese people always take off their shoes when they get home.

Q. What are the differences between your country and the U.S.A.’s educational systems?
A. Japanese high school students study 12 or 13 hours a day for university entrance exams. However, they stop working hard after they have passed the exam. On the other hand, American university students are very busy. They have homework every day and participate in some club activities.

2) Laura Huang

Country: China

Q. What do you have here that is not in your country?
A. One person as a roommate. In China, students share a room with 4-6 persons because there are many students in universities.

Q. What are you missing?
A. Foods are different from China. I miss Chinese food. The spring festival is also part of Chinese culture and one of the most famous holidays in China. It is the new year by the lunar calendar. Many migrant workers go back to their hometown during spring festival. People also enjoy special foods like Chinese dumpling, fish, and chicken.

Q. What was shocking for you after you arrived in the U.S.A.?
A. Shopping centers are not so crowded in the U.S.A. In China, there are many people in stores, especially on weekends. I think Chinese shopping stores are very prosperous.

Q. What are the differences between your country and the U.S.A.’s educational systems?
A. In big universities in China, 100-200 students are in one class. In my opinion, big classes give us a lot of different ideas and communication. I was surprised when I found that is not common in other parts of the world.

3) Jola Ceca

Country: Albania

Q. What do you have here that is not in your country?
A. Ground squirrels. It was the first time for me to see ground squirrels in the U.S.A.

Q. What are you missing?
A. Family, my room, language, greeting, foods, and the view from my house. I could see mountains and beach from my house.

Q. What was shocking for you after you arrived in the U.S.A.?
A. I found hospitality and gratitude here. People are always ready to help others in every situation and make us feel like home from the first day that I came here.

Q. What are the differences between your country and the U.S.A.’s educational systems?
A. There is not a big difference, but I can say that here students are involved in more activities and different programs. U.S. gives us a great opportunity to work while we are studying.

4) Nick Platten

Country: Australia

Q. What do you have here that is not in your country?
A. I have buffalo wings, a fishing rod and I get to live with friends every day.

Q. What are you missing?
A. I am missing my friends a lot, but the guys here have helped me settle in very well. I miss my family as well. I miss some of the food, but overall American food is so much better.

Q. What was shocking for you after you arrived in the U.S.A.?
A. I didn’t really have a shocking experience, but some of the rules got me a little confused in the U.S.A.

Q. What are the differences between your country and the U.S.A.’s educational systems?
A. The difference is that being in college the teachers are not always on you, so it’s up to yourself to get the work done and to attend classes.

Don’t hesitate to ask an international student about their culture. Special thanks to everyone who cooperated with me to write this article. Thank you so much.