New Dorm, New experience
It is interesting to compare the cultural differences when you arrive at a new place. Actually, this is my first year in U.S, so there are lots of different things for me. It may take me some time to get used to the culture, but I really enjoy learning these distinctive cultures or habits.
The dorm is one of those differences. For me, I live in FT (Santa Catalina) which brings me super fun. It is really easy to make friends in FT because people always open doors and you can say hey to them while they are passing by. “Open doors” seems to be local students’ culture when they move to a new place. When I first arrived at the dorm, I was shocked why everyone open their doors. Then I realized that opening doors means “welcome”. Meanwhile, there are many floors or dorm events almost every week. During those events, you chat with others and cooperate with others. It is really fun to have a team working with strangers and you. can meet more people during those activities. The dorm in China seems a little different, overall 4 or 6 people live together during their whole four years. They may not have the “open door” culture, especially at the beginning of college, because everyone may be too shy to say hey to the strangers. However, those students who share the room may soon become friends and they may even have the same class every quarter. It is really an unforgettable experience to have so many friends who live with you, study with you and hang out with you. In FT, at most three people share the room, though you cannot have so many roomies at a time, the living condition is pretty good compared to living with 6 people. In san cat, four people share a bathroom which is really convince, and you rarely have an argument with your suitemates. Moreover, almost everyone here decorate their dorm, especially when it is Halloween or X-mas. I still remember one guy hang a huge “fake skull” on his door and everyone passing by was sacred by his door.Even not in any festival, students always decorate their room with photos and fairy lights. Personally, I really love this culture because I always want to make my room more homelike ,but every time I try to decorate my dorm in China my teacher stops me doing such a thing.
Actually, though there are so many mutual part of the dorm cultures, but still many differences. Living in the U.S is absolute new experience for me, and it is interesting to find out more about cultural differences.
