Although I came to American from Canada, I still am labeled as “international.” For the first few days I thought it was funny because I live closer to D.C. than some of my friends and the culture between Canada and the United States isn’t that different, especially coming from just outside a big city myself. Little did I know, there were some differences between the countries that although small, really did affect how I felt. If you’re coming to American from a different country, no matter the distance, here are five things you should keep in mind during your transition.
1. You will sound funny compared to others
Whether you’re from the north of France or the south of Canada, your dialect and the way you speak will be different than what the rest of the Americans sound like. It may be weird at first to be pronouncing words differently and there may be times where people continuously ask you to “say something in your accent!” but it does get better. After a few weeks people forget about how different you sound and won’t remember that you’re not from the states.
2. It’s okay to not understand
It’s obvious that when you move to a different place there are customs and cultures that you won’t understand. I myself was wandering around our very politically active school completely ignorant to the inner workings of the American political system. Thankfully, with the help of my friends, I grew to at least understand a bit of what they were saying compared to before. It just takes a lot of patience and a lot of questions before you catch onto everything. It will be okay!
3. Be careful about the exchange rates
This is something I learned the hard way. Although both the United States and Canada are in dollars, our dollars are both different values. I figured instead of taking out a large amount of American money and bringing it down to school, it would be easier to just charge everything to my credit card at home so I wouldn’t have to find a place to put all my money. Well, little did I know, the exchange rate between the two countries is awful and I ultimately ended up paying almost $10 more for each transaction!
4. It’s called “college”
Although most of the schools here have the word “university” in the name, almost everyone calls it college. I know where I’m from college and university are two separate things with two different focuses whereas here, the two are interchangeable and college is the most common phrase. So beware: if you do say “university,” you will most likely be corrected.
5. Greek Life is more prominent
If you don’t already, you should probably start to learn the Greek alphabet. Here in the United States, Greek life can be everything to some students. Although fraternities and sororities exist where I am from, not to the extent that they do here in the states. Luckily at American, it’s prominent but not overly in your face. There will be times though when you hear the words: “rush” and “bid,” just know it has to do with the Greek life. Another thing is that it’s especially difficult to keep up with all the different names of each fraternity and sorority. It will take some time to remember them all, I still mess them up.
Overall, living in the U.S. is pretty great, especially being in D.C. where there is so much to do. It took a little while to get used to but now that I’ve become an unofficial American, I’m loving it and I’m sure you will too!
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