~My culture shock coming to the US~
Hello! I am Erika, a member of the International Student Advisory Board. I moved to the United States in August of 2017 from Japan and would like to talk about the surprising culture differences I realized coming to the U.S.
First of all, do you know how many International Students are attending UCSB?? According to UCSB campus profile 2016-2017, among 24,346 students on campus, 2,531 students are international students. That means about one in ten students are from a different country. 69% of the international students are from China, followed by India (5%) and South Korea (3%). By the way, Japan is No.8 (1%). In spite of the low ratio, I fortunately have opportunities to meet some students from Japan. It is nice being able to share experiences while sometimes speaking our own language and making each other Japanese food. However, I am surprised that I have not met anyone who was in a Japanese high school and is studying abroad from Japan from their first year at UCSB, so if you are out there, please reach out to me!!!
I am positive all international students experience some kind of culture shock whether it is positive or negative. I know I have. My first biggest shock was the restrooms. My thought as I walked into my first toilet was “Why can I see peoples’ legs?!” In Japan, the toilet door goes all the way down for privacy. You check if a person is inside by the door lock that changes the color of its plate, just like an airplane So, it was very uncomfortable for me to go into a toilet at first because you can see people inside, and you know people can see you. I also really miss the toilet seat that heats up and has bidet functions. Sometimes in Japan, you can make the toilet play sounds of a river too!
Enough of toilet talk, the next biggest shock was how you call teachers/adults’ names. In Japan, usually, we put an honorific title on the last name or first name of people who are born earlier than you, even if it’s just one year difference. However, students here are like “Hi Jack!”, “Thank you, Becky!” (choosing random names) to campus staff or even Professors! Don’t we have to put Mr. or Mrs. or something??? I am still a bit hesitant to call adults by their first name, to be honest, but if I do say Mr./Mrs. they laugh and say, “you can call me Jack”, so this is something I have to get used to.
All in all, these were my two major culture shocks that I experienced that I can share in such a short time. I want to hear other culture gaps that people experienced here at UCSB or in the U.S. If there is something you absolutely cannot deal with, you absolutely enjoy or if you want your voice to be heard, we are here for you! The student advisory board is here to make international students’ school life better.
See you at another post!!!
Erika S :)
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