What you expect on the first day?

Although it was more than ten years ago， I still clearly remember how I felt the first day I arrived the US. The first time I felt scared was on the second plane flying from Detroit to Philadelphia. There was no body speaks Chinese on that plane. It was torturous for me. I felt long， lonely， and clueless.

My mom has a close friend lives near Detroit and she was willing to help me out at my transfer stop. She helped me find where my next plane is and explained to me what we saw.

The first thing I found funny was when I saw some guys， they are white with dark curly hair， and they all wear a tiny hat on top of their heads. The hat looks like a cup cap. I am sure they are not being worn to be fashionable， so I asked. My mom’s friends explained to me: “Jewish people wear them for religious reason.” While China is becoming more and more open to foreigners， maybe many of you have seen those hats in China， or you already know what they are.

I guess my point is that when you see anything that you haven’t seen before， maybe you think they look funny， but DO NOT stare or laugh at them. Sometimes people wear funny things for fun， but sometimes there may be other reasons. You are always welcome to ask people questions in a respective way. Thus instead of saying: “Your hat looks funny.” We could say: “I saw quite a few people wearing the same hat. What is the reason for that?” It is a great question because it shows that you are open and interested.

(Yes， President Barack Obama is not Jewish; I found this picture on Google)

The second thing which impressed me was the FAST PACE at Detroit airport. People were walking FAST. It is impossible to walk at that pace in the crowd in China. Most time you will find that in the US， the public areas and roads are very organized， such as slower people walking or driving on the right side， the faster people on the left lane.

I think there is a misconception of Americans in China. Yes， Americans’ math and science score maybe lower than us， but it doesn’t mean they don’t work hard or they are not efficient. I have worked at several different research places， almost all the Americans I worked with are very bright and well rounded. When they have to work hard， they are efficient and walk fast. The scary part is that they are able to use better tools such as internet and software to solve problems independently. The Internet there is different from the Internet in China. You have no right to say “I don’t know” In the US， because you can find almost everything online.

After you land and walk out of the airport， you will expect your Chinese friends to pick you up from airport to the apartment you found close to school. Your Chinese friends are most likely from the same school that you are going; usually the school has a Chinese student organization. For me， my aunt and uncle went to pick me up. I stayed at their house for less than a week before I moved to an Italian lady’s house. On the way home， I couldn’t help to notice the drivers on the highway have changed to white people instead of Asian， and the cars were a lot bigger than cars in China. Americans feel safer to drive bigger cars， but I dislike that idea. After the gas price went up， some of them chose to drive fuel efficiency cars or public transportation. My uncle’s house was couple miles away from the small college I attended. I was careless， so I had to walk to school every day. Because it was a small town in rural area， there was no public transportation I could take; there was no bike lane either. Biking in the US on street without bike lane is VERY dangerous. You will need a bike helmet even though you are using a bike lane. Walking is safer， but please pay attention NOT to walk or park on other households’ lawn area.

If you end up in rural area like me， your life will be safe most likely， because rich or middle class people living in rural areas. In rural area， very likely you will need others’ ride in order to go somewhere. The same distance takes 5 or 10 mins (minutes) by car will take you almost an hour by foot. If you live in the city， everything is more convenient and close by. But certain areas are not safe， poor people living in the city because they can’t afford a car or a big house. Rich people living in the nice apartments of center city for the convenience. Thus the first block of street maybe safe but the next one is a different story. Keep in mind that if your school tells you that its neighborhood is not safe， you probably shouldn’t walk alone at night from library to your apartment， because bad things like robbery will happen to you. You are the perfect target: alone， have cash， and skinny. You can use a tall and handsome school police to escort you home (please use one even though he is not tall or handsome). Later I will use an entire section to tell you about school.

(Campus police will walk you home with his bike， so ask for it)

Now I want to talk more about the house you may be living in. My first suggestion is Do not expect too high. There are many different houses in America， but as a poor student， you may not want to pay too much on housing if you are the kind that spending most of your time in the library. The cheapest way is to share with other people. Most people I know would pay $500 to $1500 for everything all together: house rent ($300 to $1000)， heat (expensive)， electricity (expensive)， water (cheap， nobody tells you to save water there)， internet (varies). Same as everywhere else， the more you pay， usually the better place you will get. Some old houses have mice. Yes， it is disgusting but you should expect to deal with things like that. American mice are a lot smaller and fearless. I have dealt with it more than you think. Many students are moving in and out before school starts; it is also a great time to get used furniture and other home necessities. My suggestion is: when you buy others’ secondhand stuff， don’t bargain too much like you are in China， very likely you won’t find anything cheaper in store than the secondhand stuff from your “brothers” or “sisters”， so look for “Moving Sale” topic.

I am sorry if this section is not too interesting for you， but I do think they are important if you keep in mind. Remember my purpose of writing this whole thing is to try to help you adjust the new environment. When I arrived to my small college， there was no Chinese student organization and totally I have met three other Chinese there. If you are experiencing the same issue as me， please don’t hesitate to contact me， I will try to help you out as I can. I didn’t write too much about my own experience because most of you won’t end up in that school， Gwynedd Mercy College.

Effie #61514;

Dec， 2011

Effie，生于北京，高中畢業(yè)后留學(xué)美國。

現(xiàn)居美國，任職于強生公司。

Effie很樂意和大家分享她的留學(xué)生活點滴。

effie.huang.email@gmail.com