My Experiences of Study Abroad

My Expectation of American Culture

Before I came to the States, I thought it to be a place where convenience was everything. However, over time I realized that not everything was convenient. What was worse, inconvenience in some situations sometimes made me frustrated, because I expected to live comfortably and conveniently in the Stated. But it turned out to make me, sometimes, want to go back home. The following are some of the situations that make me feel bad.



My God!

There is nothing more frustrating than getting through to the customer service in the US. I was calling through my cell phone to get to customer service to change minute plan. On the other side of the phone, “Thanks for calling AT&T. For English, press 1. For Spanish, press 2.…

However, this automatical system just kept going on. Besides, I was new here in this land, and the speaker on the other side of the phone spoke so fast that I could hardly understand. Being helpless, I turned to Velsie at the front desk. I asked her if she could help me change my minute plan. She said yes. And she took my cell phone and dialed the number that I got from the clerk at AT&T who told me to make contact with the clerk if necessary. Again, it was the automatical system that answered our call, "...To add minute, press 2. To check bill, press 1. To terminate your contract, press 3." There were many options keeping us waiting. But she still followed the instructions, step by step, from the automatical system. A few minutes later, she didn’t get the answer that we both wanted. So, she made antoher call. Again, the phone answered, "To check bill, press 1. To terminate your contract, press 3." It took us so long to talk to the automatical system, but we still didn't talk to the customer service. All we got was another number which might get us through to the customer service. But it didn't work.





When East meets West

I thought it would be very convenient to eat in the Stated, because in Taiwan I could always get food when I went out in the streets. So, I thought it would be “that convenient” to eat in the States. But when I first got here, which were a few days from the new semester, the only place that served food was Johnson Commons (JC) on this campus. They served Taco, which was a wrap with a variety of vegetables and with cheddar cheese if you liked, and bacons which to me they might have cooked too long and were a little greasy. They also served pasta, which they might put it in the boiling water and poured it out and blended it with ketchup. So, it tasted bland, or even tasteless to me. I thought I would get used to the food here, so the next day I went to JC again, but it was also the day that I told myself that I should cook for myself or I was going to die. The food itself was great, but the taste made me draw back.



After that day, I went to the Union to get my food. There was a burger machine which any customer could use to order his "special" burgur. I was standing in front of it and watched people getting their order, because I was afraid the food (the burger) might be the same as in JC. I didn’t feel like getting my order at all. Then I looked around the Union. All I saw was fast food, fried chicken, nuggets, and pizzas, all that I wouldn’t want to eat. Frustrated by the food, I decided to buy groceries at Walmar and to cook for myself. The thought of eating in the Stated proves to be unexpectedly inconvenient.



Talking in the Library

I always have this in my mind: be quiet when in a library. That’s because in Taiwan whoever wants to enter a library will see outside a library a sign which would say: “No talking and be quiet.” When I first got here, I didn’t know I could talk in the library. So, I always kept myself quiet when passing through it. When I saw students talking to each other, I was so surprised. What was even more shocking, they took food and beverages (Cock and juice or lemonade) into the library. Also, there’s a Java City just down the hall on the second floor by the back door.



According ot one of the local students, she didn’t want to study in the library, because a lot students were talking or passing by, and that was waht she found disturbing. A few weeks later, I began to study in the library and realized what was disturbing to me. I remember there was a time when I studied in the library. There were two girls sitting behind me. They were studying very hard, but they talked too much. “Do you know how to this?” one of them said, and the other said, “You could….” I didn't want to listen to them, but their voices made me hear them, and they also moved around and talked a little loud, though they tried to keep their voices down. This could be an advantage and disadvantage, and sometimes disappointing.



Conculsion

The things I said above are from the perspectives of my own culture. There’s one thing I want my blog readers to know: there’s nothing wrong between these two cultures, American culture and Taiwanese culture. What makes us different is our way of life and the way we perceive many things in this world. As long as we keep learning from each other, we will be able to overcome many of so-called cultural shocks between us. The more we learn from each other, the more we appreciate each other.