Three Culture Difference that I Noticed In UCSB
As this quarter begins, I have noticed some kinds of differences between America and my homeland, China.
The most interesting thing is about the transportation. In China, during all my school time, I have never seen people skateboarding to school. Most of Chinese students tend to walk or ride bikes. Skateboard can only be seen in the park, where some young skateboarding fans play together for fun. However, in America, playing skateboard to school is very normal. The first time I hung out in the college, there were a group of students playing skateboard past me in a high speed. “ It’s so cool but a little bit dangerous,” I said with my friends. After that, I find skateboard is really fashion among the young. Wherever I am, there are always some people on the skateboard in my view. Regardless of gender or race, all people pursuing excitement choose skateboard as their travel tool.
Another difference that puzzles me is the eating habit. From the view of the kind of meat, in China, people would like to have chicken and pork as main meat; but in America, people are more likely to have steak on their table. So I can hardly get used to the local habit, eating beef for lunch or dinner, in the first week as I arrived in America. Moreover, people in America are willing to have fried food, such as fried chicken and chips, which from my view are not good to our health. But in all the American eating habits, my favorite one is they are in favor of eating a bit of food for lunch, like a sandwich or 2 pieces of pizza, because eating until half full is an ideal way to help me keep energy and physical power. If I am totally full(this kind of eating habit is prevail in China), the only thing I want to do is to sleep.
The last one I want to mention is about character. In my memory, most of Chinese are traditional and shy. But for American students, they pursue to show their own personality. For example, among all my Chinese friends, I cannot find out one whose hair is colored to purple. But in my class of UCSB, I have seen three beautiful young American girls with purple or pink hair, which shows they are energetic and bold. And tattoo, considered a sign of bad guys in China, is everywhere in America. By talking with a local student, I got that they use tattoo to express their beliefs, rules of life, and their love to their relatives.
The differences between China and America make me excited and also drive me into dilemma. But anyway, it is valuable that I have the good chance to fit in a new society, a different society, and I am very glad to experience all the differences to expand my horizon and get far more mature.
