Surprises, Surprises everywhere!

July 26, 2017

Posted: September 10, 2016, 7:26pm

Hi everyone! Hope you’re starting to get neck deep into assignments, here’s a fun read!

So, as a student from India I was asked during my orientation as to what surprised us the most when we entered the US and it definitely got me thinking. Some of the things that I came across are:

  1. The PORTION SIZE – I’m sure you international kids know why I capitalized that cause here in the US the portion sizes are huge compared to India. Not that I’m complaining but one meal portion gets distributed into lunch and dinner subsequently atleast for moi !
  2. The swap- In India, the driver’s seat is always to the right hand side in cars, here when I got into a cab initially, I thought the front seat was already occupied but to my surprise that’s where the driver was :O It may not be a huge deal obviously but it takes some getting used to if you don’t want to go back and forth and miss being the winner when you’re calling shotgun.
  3. The “givens” you must abide by- This is something else that I want to emphasize on. There is absolutely no way cut a queue here, never change lanes a 100 times when you drive the car, refer to your professor as not “Sir” or “Ma’am” but as Professor, hold the door if there’s someone behind you.
  4. Courteous- It’s really nice that everyone greets everyone here with a Hello; thanks and apologizes and altogether how people are very polite here. Sometimes when you’re having a bad day, a chirpy “Have a good day” or “Hello” or the occasional free hugs may lighten up your mood.
  5. Multicultural- So many people to meet and so little time. There are so many people from different cultures you witness especially around campus. It’s a great oppurtunity to learn and understand new cultures, get different perspectives and all in all have great fun!
  6. Do let me know if you feel like I’ve missed something! Good luck for the semester 😀

 

Published on July 26th, 2017Last updated on August 10th, 2017