The U.S. I knew! (1)
Yesterday, I watched a trailer of a new Egyptian reality TV Show, presented by the Egyptian version of Jon Stewart, Bassem Yousf. The program tries to shed light on the Arabs' view of the United States and how their lives are in the states. That trailer made me think about my experience in the past 8 months I spent in the U.S. In that 8 months, I learned a lot and huge misconceptions I used to have were corrected. In this blog, I'll talk about the misconceptions and concerns I had before coming to the U.S. as well as my first days in the U.S.
The Story started when I got my scholarship from my university, after working there for a couple of months. Since my university only gives scholarships to the U.S. or Canada, I had to decide which one should I go to. Canada is too cold and the education system there is not as good as the education system in the U.S. So I decided to go to the states. Going to the United States is not an easy process! The hardest step was getting the visa! a lot of paper work was needed to be done and then an interview and then the waiting!
The Story started when I got my scholarship from my university, after working there for a couple of months. Since my university only gives scholarships to the U.S. or Canada, I had to decide which one should I go to. Canada is too cold and the education system there is not as good as the education system in the U.S. So I decided to go to the states. Going to the United States is not an easy process! The hardest step was getting the visa! a lot of paper work was needed to be done and then an interview and then the waiting!
After Obtaining the visa successfully, the next step was to get ready to go to Austin, TX, where I would study English in the ESL Services at University of Texas . Even though, I had traveled to different countries before, I was really frustrated before the trip to the states. Not only because It would take at least 20 hours to go from Riyadh to Austin!, but also because of all the stories I have heard about how hard and humiliating the check up in the American airports can be. Adding to all of this, the fact that I was going to stay away from my family for a long time!
Apart from the jet lag I had, everything was great. The Security check up was fast and easy, the airport officers were friendly and respectful. They even announced the luggage instructions in Arabic, for those who didn't know English. Seeing how organized the American airports was the first difference I noticed, since our airports are usually disorganized!
At 11 pm, we arrived from Washington DC to Austin and that was the time to test the second misconception about America. "Don't go at night a lone", my mom said! my friends and I were thinking that the U.S. at night is full of people carrying guns and shooting each other while a lot of police cars are trying to catch those criminals! That was the image we had from watching all these American action movies!
The Saudi guy who offered us a ride, corrected this misconception. He took us on a tour around Austin,then we had an amazing dinner at one of the famous restaurants in Austin. the next night We went on a walk around the city and we enjoyed it very much and surprisingly, it was very safe!
(To be completed in the upcoming posts)
Ali. You know? Right now I feel as if you have put it in words everything I felt, it is really funny how sometimes I thought I was the only one. Great job. I <3 your blog!
ReplyDeleteWith your last sentence, "surprisingly, it was very safe!", I just burst into laughter, because I felt exactly the same when I arrived Austin at first. Before I came to the U.S., I had always thought the U.S. very dangerous. However, Austin seems to be quite safe and peaceful, doesn't it? :)
ReplyDelete