The Significant Decision

Name: Professor’s Name: Course: Date The Significant Decision There is a huge change and transition in my life now that I have come to the United States to study. Living by myself is a challenge but it has helped me grow and envision the person I would like to be. The decision to move to the U.S. alone was scary but I am thrilled to say it has transformed me and thus far I can say it is one of the most significant moments in my life. When I was in middle school, I really liked watching American TV series. These gave me an initial impression about how life is in the United States. The TV series made me curious about the American life and I slowly developed a liking towards the U.S. and its culture. At that time, my favorite shows were the the Big Bang Theory television series and the Vampire Diaries. In the Big Bang Theory, I saw the scene where the cast members were eating Chinese food while seated on the sofa. I was impressed by the scene in which they used paper boxes with red letters and patterns as the dishes that contained rice. This is very different from the Chinese food I eat in my daily life but nonetheless, I wanted a taste of it. However, this goes deeper than just food. These shows had a way of subtly inculcating or including culture in them. One day, as I was having lunch with my good friend Lisa, we started a conversation that led me to the said conclusion. Lisa and I shared a lot and on this particular day, we started talking about food and how it says a lot about multicultural behaviors or instances in the world. On this day, Lisa’s lunch was fried pasta while mine was poke with Chinese cabbage and rice. As we were having lunch, I initiated a discussion about what we were eating. Me: Lisa, do you think that fried pasta is like Chinese Italian food? Lisa: Maybe, I think. This situation is like we never eat General Tso’s chicken in China. Me: Wow! Yeah. I watched the Big Bang Theory and there was this scene that gave me the impression that they had eaten American-Chinese food. This conversation took further into the discussion of the cultures of the world and how today each borrows from others. A good example is how Chinese and Western cuisines continue to borrow from each other. In the U.S. today, people eat different foods which never originated there. Italian, Chinese, Japanese foods are popular there. I started paying attention to what I saw on the TV. For example, the TV series I watched mimicked a part of my life. Even though I was shocked, watching a part of my culture being freely adopted and practiced in the U.S. made me want to learn how the Americans live. Before one makes the trip to another country, it is normal to want to know another country’s culture. However, what makes people confident in moving to another country is the security of freely practicing one’s culture while feeling a sense of belonging. The mind is always working and while making the transition, it will look for familiar traits or behaviors. Loneliness is a major problem for people who go to live in other countries. However, finding a common factor or something that resembles home makes the stay a little less sad. For me, it started with watching American programs and I can say that my stay has been less stressful because of ...