International students at Ball State answer the question: “What was the biggest culture shock for you when you came to America?”
“PDA is weird. People in India don’t do that. The first time I walked into a bar, I saw two people making out and I said, ‘okay, I’m not going to stare.’ That’s awkward.” – Sagar from India
“Maybe driving rules. The highway is a little different here. In China, the police aren’t patrolling everywhere.” – Jiacheng from China
“There was not such a big shock when I came. I think cities are the same. People are friendlier here. They smile and always talk to people they don’t know. Also parties. We don’t have parties like here. It’s more like a meeting or people will hang out together or go some place for dinner, but not like drinking or drugs.” – Qiong from China
“The food here is too sweet. Candy, cookies, muffins, cheesecake.” – Weiqiang from China
“Smoking. In my country, you can smoke in streets, in front of the buildings. But here, you have to stay away like 20 feet from the buildings and the sidewalks in a lot of places. Even for the electronic cigarettes.” -From Libya
