Cultural Difference

Open the door of dormitory in the morning, the person who lives next to you say “Hi! Good morning!” to you. Does this scene sound familiar?

To be honest, I have no idea of this kind of scene before I came to America. At first, I was confused about the warm greetings from American friends. “Hey, how’s everything going?” “How are you today?” These are some examples of daily greetings with new American friends. After communicated with my American roommate, I realized that the confusion is what called “cultural difference.”

I studied in International Curriculum Center in my high school, and teachers around me was all from English speaking countries. However, teachers had never greeting us like this. For Chinese, we seldom express our warm heart. In other words, we are afraid of expressing our own feelings. With the influence of tradition, Chinese tend to be more humble and introverted. Americans, on the other hand, are more extroverted and welcoming. I appreciate this difference and I am on my way to accept it and get used to it. By the warm greetings, it can shorten the distance between two people, even if they are not that familiar. I also regard getting used to greet people as the first step to engage in the real American life, since it is a sign of getting involved to the culture.

At the same time, I find that American universities are more comprehensive and accepting. Walking through the campus, there are students with different hair colors, different skin colors, with different spoken language. Being an international student here, I am not feeling alone here. By joining the Chinese Student Association, I make a lot of friends and enlarge my social cycle. I have also seen the Black Student Association and many other clubs with different religions and beliefs. Therefore, the campus is more multi-cultural. It is true that there are still programs for international students. But we cannot see many foreign students in Chinese universities. When we find some foreign students walking on campus, they feel lonely. That’s why I think American universities are more accepting and being an international student would not be that lonely.

There are numerous cultural differences between Chinese and American. But these two main differences impress me. Facing the cultural differences, what we need to do is to face it directly and accept it. You can make a change and try to get involved or just be what you like, but don’t be afraid of these differences! The differences can make our campus life interesting and colorful.