Life in the US (Essay Sample)

Life in the US
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Life in the USA is much different from that of my home country. Being a Muslim international student, the freedom pretty offered here is amazing in contrast to the strict traditions apprehended in my motherland. Our culture, though it encourages fairness, offered different levels of respect. As an international student, I was overwhelmed by the treatment I was accorded by my US neighbors and friends. Individuality and self-expression are much upheld here. It is taunted to bring out the best in people and encourages competition. That change is good; it offered me a newer perspective towards the society and life in general as I was held responsible for my decisions, choices and even determine my future prospects. Strangely enough, speaking openly about certain subjects was not part of my undertaking. I considered some topics private and were only to be discussed frankly between the affected individuals. Honestly, this was the opposite of the culture I came to be accustomed to in the US. They considered it normal to speak frankly about the same topics even when they were giving the contrary opinion or conveying disheartening news. Over the past year, I have learnt to accommodate this change though I am still yet to feel comfortable criticizing people openly or even discussing certain topics openly. Change is a slow process for me, but I am also considering what would become of this change when I finally exit to my motherland. The people there might find me rude and uncouth if I openly criticized my elders or even openly talk about issues relating to sex or its practices. The concept of a family is different in the US as compared to my motherland. I have come to learn about new traditions and family practices, unlike my traditional practices. In my motherland, cases of single parenthood were rare, and the children enjoyed the company of either of the parents or both during his/her initial growth stages; this is not so in the US. There are large families in the US consisting mainly of single parents either due to divorce or unwed cases. It is common to find both parents employed either on part-time or full-time basis forcing the children to be sent to daycare centres if they are still young to start schooling; on my part, this deprives the child of the parental love, care and company that are crucial during the early growth stages of the child. In accordance with our traditions, it is appropriate for the child to take care of his/her parents even when they are married; this is meant to foster responsibility and affection towards one’s parents during their old age thereby enhancing family unity. Most families in the US, regardless of their location or size, promote family unity through get-togethers to celebrate important occasions like weddings, birthdays, and other holidays though the parents are not considered dependents of their children whatsoever. These past days, I have been invited over by my friends to their get-togethers, and this gave me a t...