Free Essay

My Effort to Fit in American Culture

In: English and Literature

Submitted By paperplane
Words 1345
Pages 6
My effort to fit in American culture My idea of what American culture has changed greatly since I have emigrated from my home land of Mongolia. As an undergraduate student, I participated in American studies and English as a secondary language. This did not prepare me for the cultural shock and social obstacles that I would have to overcome. My goals of establishing a new life and fitting into the melting pot of the American culture were highly understated and unrealistic. It was a dark and rainy day when I first arrived at O’Hare International Airport. When I arrived in America, I had a student visa, a partial scholarship, and five hundred dollars in my purse. I had confidence that I could pay the remainder of my tuition, living expenses, and book fees with a part time job. I was quick to learn that my visa did not open the doors to my expectations. The bureaucratic cultural restrictions were about to make a lasting impression on all my expectations and plans. According to the homeland security regulations, a foreign student must have a work permission document to earn any kind of supplemental income. If I was given a waiver, I would then be restricted to work no more than twenty hours a week. The college I was planning to attend had a strict policy that did not allow international students to be employed, even on a part time basis. I then learned that any student who did not have a proper documentation could not obtain a social security card. I found myself in denial and disbelief. Where was the country that I had studied about, founded on the sanctity of an individual’s
Tarrant 2 freedom? Where was the open all encompassing culture I wanted to blend into and grow with? None of the freedoms that I was exposed to in Mongolia were now available to me here. These cultural and bureaucratic dictates reinforced my assigned guest status in this country. They were obstacles I would have to overcome to fit in the great American melting pot. I could not drop out of school in order to keep my student visa status. The only way to survive and support myself was to seek employment as an undocumented worker. I was now competing with a myriad of ethnic persuasions for blue collar service oriented jobs. Most of these immigrants had no visas or entry documentation. They came to America in search of economic success and work related opportunities. While I was going to school on the weekends, I tried to find work as a delivery driver. Although there were schools that would prepare me for this occupation, the tuition and fees were far beyond my budget. It was then that my friend gave me the book “Road rule in Illinois” to study and prepare me for the commercial driver’s test. Reading a book in English was very difficult and challenging to me. There were thousands of unknown vocabulary words that I had never been exposed to before. The other aspect of acquiring a commercial license was the actual driving. To accomplish this, my friend would take me to a park near Lake Michigan to practice operating a motor vehicle. After many long hours of studying and driving I was able to pass the Illinois State driving exam. It was one of my first steps to fit in the great American culture. Three months later, I gained access to a tax ID number. The owner of an employment agency told me that I could use the tax ID number instead of a government issued social security card. She had lots of success placing people as care givers to the sick and elderly. After my first interview session, I was immediately offered a job. Before starting the new job, I had to pay her
Tarrant 3 two weeks salary to satisfy her placement fee. This payment came with no guarantee that the job would be successful or permanent. This experience helped me to realize that within the American culture, there was a counter culture that functioned purely on need, without any set of legitimate principals or regulations. I was desperate and my savings were dwindling fast. I took the job offer. I was charged with providing care 24 hours a day six days a week for Courtney Levengton. She was a 28 years old woman who was the victim of a terrible car accident. The owner of the employment agency told me that her family did not live together and Courtney would be the only person I would have care for. It turned out to be very different situation as I had to live with, and look after Courtney, her sister Julia, her husband, and three children. My care was not restricted to one client as promised, but an entire family. The agency represented me as much older than I was, with a studied medical and nursing background. This deception was something that weighed heavily on me and was hard to keep bottled up inside. This was out and out fraud on the part of the employment agency. Since I had already paid the exorbitant placement fee, I had no recourse other than to do the very best job possible. One of my primary responsibilities was to prepare and drive Courtney to Rehabilitation Center. The first day of her rehab, Julia gave me directions on how to get to the hospital. While Courtney was going about her exercise routine, I decided to get familiar with the hospital’s neighborhood. I drove south for a few miles and decided to return. When I attempted to turn around, there was too much traffic for me to safely do so. I then stopped the car and turned on the hazard lights. Suddenly, a police car with its lights flashing pulled in behind me. This was the first time in my life I had encountered a police officer. I was so intimidated and frightened that I could hardly keep my composure. The police officer walked to my car and asked why I turned on the hazard lights. My reply was that I turned on the lights because I was concerned other cars would not see me and this would cause an accident. It was simply the truth. He then asked why I had stopped here. I told him that I tried to turn around, but I could not because the oncoming traffic never did slow down or stop. He then asked to see my driver’s license. Unfortunately, I did not have my driver’s license with me, so the police wrote down my name and he went back his car. I was shaking like a leaf and whispering; “oh my God, I would now have a ticket on my record, or perhaps, he would tow my car. What would I tell to Courtney’s family?” There were so many terrible thoughts flowing through my head as I waited for his return. This was the longest two minutes of my life I have ever known.
When he returned to my car, I was so surprised that the officer did not write me a traffic violation. He did just the opposite of my expectations and told me; “please try to drive a bit faster because this is a two lane highway and people do drive fast on it.” The police officer then stopped all traffic to assist me to turn around and go back the way I came. On the way back, I was so relieved. I hardly noticed the huge tractor trailer truck on my back, like wolf chasing a rabbit. I thought to myself that this must be one of the cultural privileges of being a white female in her car.
How do I fit in the American contemporary culture? I am now participating in the American cultural experience. I am happily married and living in American dream of home ownership and continuing my graduate education. This contemporary culture is now a part of my contributions and creation.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Gary Shteyngart's Sixty-Nine Cents

...odds with a new culture for these two writers, both of them tried to assimilate into the American culture which they immigrated to and longed for getting involved with, by overcoming the inability of fitting in the society while struggling with their own particular difficulties, emphasizing that sometimes you have to do something against your original heritage in order to achieve the assimilation. The author, David Jacobson, of the essay “Reflections: Growing-Up Grown” expresses how grateful he was for his non-English...

Words: 1254 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Cultural Diversity and Education

...Education The American classroom can at times contain many different cultural diversities and backgrounds. Students from different states or countries offer the classroom a cultural masterpiece that is designed to somehow work and at times this can be an accomplishment. A world of separation exists that can cause a series of emotions especially in regards to a student’s cultural background or race. Everyone is placed in a way by our race and the cultures we represent. Educators must be aware of this and their own position in the classroom in order to create relationships with their students in a teaching and learning manner. Race matters in everyday life. It can have a very powerful effect on interactions between students, students and teachers, and effects learning in some cases. One way to offer support for all students from different cultures is to offer multicultural education. Multicultural education is put in place to provide equal opportunities to all students in educational settings by changing the environment to reflect the cultures and groups within the classrooms. Offering this support makes the learning experience better for students who may struggle fitting in due to their race or cultural difference. The cultural differences that come with being from a different state or country should be embraced in order to allow our educational system to move forward into embracing cultural differences and diversities that make up our nations classrooms. My interviewee...

Words: 818 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Cs 204

...There are many different cultures in Southwest Florida that one becomes immediately aware of as they enter the area. They include Native-American, African-American, Protestant, European, "Cracker", Hispanic-Latino, and Cuban. Because there are so many variations of these cultures choosing just three was difficult, but for my project I will be focusing on our African-American, Hispanic-Latino, and "Cracker" populations. During this project I will address the many and varied differences between these cultures on many different levels including personal or family differences, social differences and educational differences. I expect to gain a greater understanding about these cultures during this process and by gaining this understanding I will be better equipped to combine students from these cultures into a classroom of learners that are able to succeed on all levels of History education. Because I do teach World History having a classroom full of diverse cultures lends itself to a variety of teaching activities and extra curricular learning. Miami-Dade Community College President Eduardo J. Padron. Said it best when he said "Our classrooms are laboratories for cultural diversity and the disciplines are enriched when students contribute various cultural perspectives," It has become increasingly clear that we must get creative in culturally diverse ways in order to pull all of our students into the learning culture in equal ways. I spent several days researching the material that...

Words: 3353 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Mgmt 591

...Organization The organization that will be the topic of discussion in my final project paper is Amazon.com. Amazon.com is an American international electronic commerce company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet based company in the United States. Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling DVDs, VHSs, CDs, video and MP3 downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. The company also produces consumer electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle e-book readers, Kindle Fire tablets, Fire TV and Fire Phone — and is a major provider of cloud computing services. Amazon has separate retail websites for United States, United Kingdom & Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, India and Mexico, with sites for Sri Lanka and South East Asian countries coming soon. Amazon also offers international shipping to certain other countries for some of its products. In 2011, it had professed an intention to launch its websites in Poland, Netherlands, and Sweden. An Austrian website operates as part of the German website. Amazon.com has a high turnover rate, Even so, Amazon.com ranks only second among Fortune 500 companies with the highest employee turnover rates. This could be a bad thing but it can also be a good thing. One of the things I will do during my research is discover what kind of impact that this has on Amazon.com ...

Words: 2262 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Toxic Lifestyle Analysis

...healthy on the inside. It took plenty of effort to even look that situation in the eye, but one day I was forced to when my body said "no" and that it had enough. Living in North America is tough. I love all the opportunities here, but many young people, including myself, are consistently exposed to the glamorization of a lifestyle that isn't healthy. After recovering many years later from my disease and dysfunction, I discovered that it was this toxic lifestyle that was the foundational cause of my illness. Not only did this lifestyle promote toxic living above healthy care of self, this unhealthy living system also fueled my obsession with what I looked like on the outside and not what lay on the inside. What lay on the inside was being ignored and stifled yet it was this part of myself that...

Words: 636 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Cover Letter

...requirements posted for this position fit both my personality and experience. The opportunity to work for J.P. Morgan in a globally oriented setting and with teams of professionals committed to excellence is an exciting prospect for me. I have had assorted non-employment business experiences that would successfully translate into quality performance for this position. I first gained customer relations and negotiation skills at the age of 15 when my proficiency in English became an asset for my parents’ security company in Maputo, Mozambique. With the majority of the clients being affluent nationals or foreign professionals I became very adept at leading business conversations, explaining potential security concerns to those clients who were new to the country, and learning about all the products and services to ensure clients understood them. I am confident that as a Banker I can create and maintain client relationships where client satisfaction is always realized. I am an avid learner with a comprehensive knowledge of accounting, finance, and management; I can efficiently adapt my skills to fulfill the responsibilities of the position offered. As a native Latin American who has lived in Latin America, Africa, and the U.S., I have interacted with numerous cultures and I have always kept close ties with members of different Latin American communities around me. I have had the cultural interaction to be able to understand that even though Latin Americans are perceived as a group that...

Words: 566 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Bilingual Culture: Prejudice And Racism

...In efforts to abide by the accepted sociological norm of whiteness; despite being from a Latino decent, I have found myself product of the unspoken “normalcy” of white culture. My first example of this is that when I’m entering the main college campus at the University of Rhode Island Kingston Campus, I have found myself either turning down or switching the Spanish radio station to something more “American” or “white” because I fear of how I would fit in or be looked upon. Second, I have noticed that when I tend to go out with some of my friends, especially those who happen to be white, I always have little to no saying on the places we visit; this again, for fear that the places I decide on are not a representation of whiteness. Thirdly, I have found that in connection to my normalcy number two, I tend to order relatively the same foods that my white friends order, instead of ordering something that I really want; my order to the waitress is more on the accepted sociological belief of what whiteness constitutes. (11) – Though it might be strange to think about Racism in two different spectrums or categories, the reality of the matter is that indeed, Racism can be divided into two sections. When we think about racism, the first image that comes to our mind is that of another...

Words: 499 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

A Complete Understanding of Mental Models

... As the world continues to advance in different areas individuals will continue to develop specific mental models to help them deal with different subjects. For example, as the world moves toward more globalization individuals will have to put aside most of their mental models in an attempt to move rapidly forward. Mental Models are of inherent value in understanding the way some individuals may think about developing third world cultures. Mental models may also be of significant value when major corporations send executives to foreign countries to set up new businesses. These executives must adapt to the culture and the language in order to promote their products and services. At times this may seem like a daunting task. But, corporations like MTV have learned the key to success. MTV recently took their operations to India in effort to expose western culture to India. MTV did not try to fit its culture into India; however they chose to put their mental models aside and adapt to India culture by adopting most of their customs in an effort to become more of a global brand....

Words: 981 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

A Life Changing Event

...young, but speaking of a life changing event, the first thing that I came up with is my educational experience when I was in senior 2 in high school. First , let me tell you the education that I had back in my country.I had my primary school and high school education in the same school back in China, it is an International school , which means I had the chance to learn English , to be exposed to different culture and knowledge since i was young. This is very different from the general Chinese education system, which I will introduce it later on. I started learning English since Grade 1 in primary school, and had the opportunity to meet with different foreign teachers all over the world. Before letting you know how this life changing event affected me so significantly, i need to let you know how the educational system works in China. In China, students must complete a 6-year primary school and a 6-year high school in order to apply for universities. However, there will be a extremely crucial test- the college entry test, which can almost determine the path of your life. In a word, if you do a real good job on this test, it basically means you will have the chance to enter one of the best universities in China, and your future will be bright; But, if you don't get a nice grade, it means you have to work out your own way for your future, because there won't be many offers for you. In my and my parents' opinion,this is a very conservative and cruel way of education which shouldn't...

Words: 900 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Core Cultural

...selfish American still has that thought in their head. I found out that they are roughly 11.9 million immigrants living the in the United States. All of those people left their homelands to come to American for a better life. They never though for once that coming here would be such a struggle, and how they will be humiliated by others who are citizen of America. Immigration is a common issue in the United States Every person should have the right to have the chance to have a better life. It is one of the main reasons why people come to the United States, to have freedom of religion, to have better paying jobs, and to have a proper education. Where you are born does not have a lot of impact with who you become. When coming to America from another country like Africa, or like me coming from Haiti, it is a hard transition. There is a lot to take in, with learning English and being around another race. Other race put a lot of pride into representing they come from. Where I was born has little to do with it. My heritage and my ancestry go with me wherever I go. When asked to describe myself, Haitian is a word I most likely choose first. I say Haitian before I begin to use words like strong willed, independent or trustworthy. Being that I use Haitian before any other characteristic goes to show that being Haitian shapes me to whom I am. Living in American for ten years, I learned about American culture. American culture is a culture of all cultures, it is a diverse culture. As...

Words: 1500 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Avatar Paper

...Creating an Avatar Presence in Second Life What does my avatar look like? My avatar was what appeared to be an African American or Hispanic woman. I would say her age was about 25 to 30. She was wearing a black dress with a very low cut front. She has on a black pair of heels. She had long blonde and brown hair. How does your avatar's appearance fit into norms established by the dominant culture? I think that the appearance of my avatar fits into what someone my age would maybe dress like when someone my age would go out to have fun. I do think that if this was a real person they would fit into the normal appearance of what someone that age would look like. Discuss choices you made for your avatar that reflect your "real life" (RL) appearance. I only chose my avatar because she was considered a minority. I didn’t personally think that she looked or acted like me. I don’ t think that it looked like me or fit into something I would wear but I guess I suppose that I felt like she would be the one I could connect to the most. Does your avatar present an image you could/would not in RL? (For example, does your avatar have wings, a purple Mohawk, robotic legs?) Why did you choose to present this particular image? I don’t think that this would be someone that would represent me in real life. I don’t portray myself in a way were I am advertising my body in that way because it could give off the wrong impression. I only chose her because I felt like she was the cutest and that...

Words: 533 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Popular Music and Culture

...Popular American Culture Daniel Aguilar SOC/105 January 19, 2012 Patrick Brady Popular American Culture What is culture? What is popular culture? As I sat in front of my computer and thought about what this meant, it occurred to me that this wasn’t something I had really put much effort into finding out in the past. What is culture? Carla definition was simple. It’s defined as the shared pattern of behavior and interactions and these shared patterns identify the members of a culture group. Popular culture also known as "pop culture" is something that is a totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, and images. Simply put it’s the way we live our lives. Many of us have changed through out the year which is expected, so this is why I chose to go this route with this easy. At my age, as a charming thirty year old male, my trends have changed, so I take you back to the age of twenty-one where my life was everything about image, about the clothes I wore, the music I listened to and even the shows I watched. This was everything in life. First you have the designer clothes I wore such as Sean John pants, Rock-A-Wear shirts, and the air force one shoes, for my fashion incline the Nikes I wore. The type of clothes I wore meant everything. It defined me and who I was and how I wanted to be known as the individual who wore the latest fashion. Not because I wanted people to know I had some money in my pocket, but to let the people around me know that I was well off and...

Words: 809 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Ellen Moore

...happened to Ellen. Although she is from a country with different culture from Korea, Ellen is a high quality professional with international experience. She had put a lot of effort to adapt to Korea culture and know how to do business at that country. She took every free time to learn and be familiarized with the local language, business etiquette, mannerism and culture in order to have a better environment to work at. Therefore, even coming from a very different culture, Ellen made a big effort to behave as close as possible to her colleagues from Korea. What happened to Ellen would probably happen to any other person even with the members from our group. Despite some similarity of the culture style between Brazil and South Korea ,it looks like her co-worker Jack didn’t recognize Ellen’s as a co-responsible for the work, so from this point of view anyone in her place could have the same problem. What might help in this situation is if it was a man in Ellen’s shoes as Korean’s culture is more male oriented. But it is not clear that Jack would react better even with a man, as Jack had studied at an American university and it would be expected that he would understand the situation of working together with an woman co-worker. 2. CQ: Is Ellen a “typical North American female manager”? Why or why not? What does the case tell you about the differences and similarities between her and you? Ellen is a “typical North American female manager”, as she worked hard to pursue a high quality...

Words: 1144 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

How Europeans View Americans

...How Europeans View Americans: Whether or not I agree with the author is based on my beliefs and experience with different economic factors. Although this article is opinionated of how the author shares different experiences from different Europeans frames (points of view) of the American society, we should all note that this is not the consensus for all Europeans. In reference to the matters that persuaded the United States to utilized their military might (September 11 2001), are only the actions of the current administered, which resulted in a ripple effect that cast judgment on all the American population. Although determined, the Bush administration left their allies on the sideline; where they felt obligated to respond and defend the homeland, which clearly displayed one difference in the U.S. and European view of security. In the summer of 2002 in an article Policy Review by Robert Kagan, he stated, “ It is time to stop pretending that Europeans and Americans share a common view of the world, or even that they occupy the same world” (Gordon, P. H, 2003). Cultures and generations have enforced and reinforced the values and belief systems that either population (American and European) have passed down from generation to generation to their children. Although Robert Kagan shared his views in the article, it is safe to say his perceived structure is not destiny, but should not be ignored. (Gordon, P.H. 2003). Apart from many other differences, which differentiate the...

Words: 1501 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

The Visitor

...figure out what he wants to do with his life. However, unbeknownst to Walter his life is about to take a radical change with some help from fate. The plot of the movie takes hold when Walter arrives in New York to give his presentation at the conference. Upon arriving in New York he is shocked to find another couple living in his apartment. Walter soon finds out the couple was scammed into believing Walter’s apartment was available for rent. After being confronted by Walter the couple hastily moves out of the apartment apologizing to Walter multiple times for the misunderstanding. From this scene till the end of the movie there are various intercultural communication concepts that are clearly emphasized in the movie which demonstrate the culture differences between the characters. And by utilizing the concepts I have learned in class it has given me a whole new perspective on the movie. One of the main dialectic themes that stems throughout the entire movie is the Privilege–Disadvantage Dialectic. This dialectic is prevalent in each of the characters, although it affects each character differently. The Privilege–Disadvantage Dialectic states that a person may be privileged but at the same time this advantage may cause a disadvantaged. The first character I will analyze in this context is Walter. Walter is very privileged in that he has a PhD and is a college professor. However, because of his job and life style Walter limits his scope of actives he chooses to participate in...

Words: 1613 - Pages: 7