Adjusting from Indian culture to American
I received a request this morning. Jules from Vassar College in New York, is writing a paper on “The process of adjusting from Indian culture to American culture“. She has asked readers of this blog to give our thoughts. She is interested in understanding few things here:
# What did you have to adjust to?
# What is your impression of Indians versus Americans on an emotional level? Moral?
# What do you consider the “weirdest” thing about American culture?
# Do you find Americans or American culture less warm/friendly than Indian culture?
# Have you encountered any racism? How has it affected you?
# Do you find yourself identifying more or spending more time with other Indians than with native-born Americans? Why or why not?
# Did you always expect to come to America for school? How long do you plan to stay?
# What was your knowledge of English before coming to the US? Have you had problems with the language?
# Are the standards for your schoolwork different? Do Americans view academia differently?
# What is your impression of food and eating habits in the US?
I am sure you will have something to share, (Atleast with Question No.3, 4 and 5). Please take some time out and fire your opinion. Thanks.
Jules, and 
Arv_Narin are discussing. 
Niveditha and 3 others are discussing. 
Niks, and
Arv_Narin 12:05 AM on November 18, 2008 Permalink
1.Answering queries as to: What curry I have for breakfast. Hee, Hee! The rest, I ignore and consider lucky living in India (There’s no place like home
).
2.The USA is a developed nation. Like all developed nations, the people there have more advanced needs. What the U.S.Americans consider moral, we Indians might consider immoral & vice versa.
Same with emotions – What we Indians consider sarcastic, U.S.Americans might consider racist & vice versa.
3.Weirdest Things = Anything we can’t do in India. Freely.;-) And anything we can do in India, that we can’t, in the U.S.A.(buy & burst fire crackers)
Well, the weirdest thing I’ve noticed is: You can buy Guns in the U.S.A. but not fire crakers?! They seem to consider the latter as more harmful?! If you ask me, I’ve(we’ve all!) been using fire crackers since we were little. (Now, that’s weird to Americans)
4.All cultures seem friendly from a tourist-perspective. People & places are good to visit; but, living in a new environment requires a lot of change, de-learning & re-learning. Same for all cultures.
I can walk to work, in India. But, I’d have to drive to work, in the USA. Cost of living is atop the roof!!
5.I haven’t been to the USA. But, we have this thing called: ragging; in schools, colleges, universities & at work as well! People in North India crack jokes about South Indians & vice versa. Just like in the USA. Such mild-racist humour has made me more tolerant towards people, as a whole.
6.Why would I visit an Indian in the USA, unless that person was my friend? Once I’ve visited the USA, I’d rather hang out with native-born Americans and learn their culture & share mine.
7.I haven’t any plans to study abroad. From what I’ve heard & know, the fees are so high that the average American student has got to work part-time to be able to pay for their tuitions.
8.We speak British English in India, but the scene is changing with outsourcing & all. I prefer British English & Tea. Thank You.
9.There is an ocean of difference between American & Indian schoolwork.
During my school days, we once received free study guides, for Java & VB, on CDs. There seems to be more application, in US Academia, than Theory, as in Indian Academia.
10. There are several vegetables, available in the US, that aren’t currently available in India. I’d love to try them all out. BUT, US food, to me, is pretty bland for my tastes.
I like American junk food though.:-)
Jules 7:36 AM on November 18, 2008 Permalink
This is great, thank you so much for posting and helping me!
-Jules