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5 Culture Shocks Entering USA from India | Graduate Student, Columbia University

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Blog article:

It's been over 13 months since I came to the US for my Master's. I entered the US first in 2016 as part of the S.N.Bose Scholarship program. There have been many culture shocks that I observed since then, and I thought it would be useful to talk about some of them. Thank you for watching and hoping to hear about your culture shock experiences! 🙂

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107 comments

    1. Earl Donavon

      MC D actually has their own supply chains. Veggies in India are so cheap because they cannot be shipped out in time for sale. This is generally why India has always had so many people, a very cheap access to calories.

    2. Balaji Goud

      ra  that’s why central govt now banned many chemicals.. it’s late but ok.. still those pesticide companies argue they are safe.. but also the storage guys dip veggies and fruits in carbide which is carcinogenic

    3. Samuel Ajgaonkar

      Well you see fast food companies have made a lot of money in western countries but now westerner are focussing on healthy diet so the fast food countries are moving to Asian / African countries to make profits . Don’t forget India and China has a huge population where these companies can make a huge profit compared to the western countries too
      I hope indian people do not support foreign companies rather than support local vendors / farmers/ locally produced goods

  1. Light York

    Everything she described is acceptable but toilet paper instead of our little water gun …..Nah never,I will do a plumbing course before I go to the US but have a tap close to the floor

  2. Nikola Tesla

    American students are in huge debt for college, that is why parents put kids to work early in states so they develop a sense of responsibility….. whereas education in India is highly subsidized by the government

    1. pankti gosar

      @nikola Tesla, there is a variety in education in India. Most of the programs that are subsidised are obsolete with no value whatsoever in job market. There are, however, exceptions to this rule like IITs or IISc or CSIR (I am from STEM, so don’t know about other fields.) And they are so selective that only 0.001% or even less of the population is educated there. These are institutions for higher Education.
      Even in primary, secondary and high school education, there are very very few schools that are capable of imparting quality education and they are available to a selective class of people. (Mind you, here it’s not about money or caste directly.) Moreover, these days, even expensive schools that charge a ton of money are not able to deliver quality education.

      For foreigners, the cost of education in US is much higher than that for the native citizens. But then, so is the case in India. The cost of living in USA, the international value of USD all add to the cost.

    1. Ankit

      Yeah and those classrooms really teach nothing. Students have to cram all those things just before the exams only. That’s why we produce so much unskilled workforce. Our theoretical knowledge is top notch due to cramming but practical knowledge zero.

    2. Mat Thachireth

      One reason behind this too much knowledge sharing.Example you are a computer student, the course started from Atom, EMF, I= V/R and so on.They must teach the core subject and commercial application.

  3. Abhishek Chede

    First major cultural shock for me was throwing food away. .. when i first time stepped in US out of airport, we stopped at Dunkin doughnuts on our way home. I ordered a chocolate doughnut along with coffee but the lady gave me plain doughnut. Without even touching it i told her that she gave me the wrong one. She immediately threw first one away in garbage and gave me the one i wanted.

  4. singtorelax

    As an Indian American that grew up in the US, this was super interesting. A lot of the things you mentioned, such as working throughout school, and cooking/cleaning for yourself, seemed so normal to me. I didn’t realize it was so different in India! But it’s very cool to see the contrast of environment.

    1. nycray0fh0p3

      @Shivani B Thats so wrong. These poor guys what would they do if they are left without family. How will they survive? Why would you do that to your child. Should always raise kids to be independent. I grew up in the US since I was 12. My parents were always working which made me very independent. I never realized how that would ne handy when I moved out. I could survive on my own. Thats the best lesson to teach a kid.

    2. Aditi Choudhary

      @Shivani B my fiance knows how to cook and i don’t..sooo i think your statement is quite irrelevant it might happen in your family but guys i know cook clean and purchase stuff..and i am still pampered like a princess LOL..

    1. Tanisha Shriyan

      @Thanos Mighty yeah but that’s the person’s choice. The establishments don’t exactly force the students unless it’s a big one that has a reputation to uphold. So yeah, it depends on the person.

      P.s and i realise that’s exactly what you said..oof…

    2. alyson mel

      You aren’t a student for long. ? …Many Corporations and Universities etc. will try to save money by putting two jobs on you. Someone leaves and they don’t hire a replacement, you get that extra work. I see it all the time. If you are good at what you do the company thinks you can always do More!

  5. Srinath Sriram

    In India it is not safe to drink tap water we drink it only after boiling it but in New Zealand people directly drink the tap water. This is the thing which I couldn’t believe at first.

    1. Free Commentor

      So sad to tell this: In the area I live, many people suffer from a “Chronic Kidney Disease”. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6409411/) Although the reasons are still unknown, many believe it is related to the drinking water.
      So noone dares to drink from a tap. Even day labourers use to bring a bottle of drinking water. Personally I buy bottled water (19 litre bottles) which are bottled from sources at safe areas. ???

    2. Tony Blair Saravanan

      I’m from UK, we drink tap water too, but it’s not direct tap water, we have water purifier (RO) in the main water inlet, thus the making the water clean and safe to drink. I have been to the US and Singapore too, it same way there too. [Don’t drink direct tap water]

    3. Shristi Singh

      In most of the plains of India, drinking tap water is safe . People also drink from handpump. So , please don’t mention that In India drinking tap water is not safe . Most of the people use RO just to ensure or can say double ensure the quality of water because of the trend of drinking RO water .

    1. Free Commentor

      @Diy Ry True.
      I’m from Sri Lanka. Here, most people rarely talk with strangers. Even when you see someone you know distantly, (like someone you have met few times, but don’t know his name) people don’t talk. But here there’s a culture of smiling at anyone. We call that treating with a smile. So most foreigners find Sri Lankans are very friendly. (I’m not telling they are not. What I mean is, smile feels friendlier than small talks for most strangers’ and that is what we excel at. ???)
      And there’s more: Honestly speaking, Sri Lankans look and dress very similar to Keralites, Bangladeshis etc. So when living or travelling abroad, we can identify Sri Lankans from a distant from these friendly smiles. Try that. If someone smiles at you without a reason, he/she probably is a Sri Lankan. (Keep in mind that you can’t small talk when someone is 30 feet away from you.)

    2. Free Commentor

      @Kelly Suzanne I’m from Sri Lanka. Here most people rarely talk with strangers. Even when you see someone you know distantly, (like someone you have met few times, but don’t know his name) people don’t talk. But here there’s a culture of smiling at anyone. We call that treating with a smile. So most foreigners find Sri Lankans are very friendly. (I’m not telling they are not. What I mean is, smile feels friendlier than small talks for most strangers’ and that is what we excel at. ???)

    1. Tahsin Tabassum

      @Bush george somehow you mixed up your claim right there my friend! There’s nothing has to do with politics.
      His father is Bangladeshi origin
      Which does make him half bangladeshi too
      And you should also google him, if you wanna know more

    1. Malai Samy Ramamoorthy

      @Melanated Princess There is ignorance out here Elena. Thanks for educating them. Some Indians think they know everything. Indian universities may be harder to get in due to the number of applicants. But that does not mean, they can get into Columbia or other ivy league. Indian institutes select only based on test scores, while American institutions look a person’s ability, service, personality and skills in various aspects. The high school students have to spend their time with different clubs, volunteer their hours for services, win in debates, participate in conferences with their clubs, weekend club/sports tournaments, Olympiads, show leadership skills, athletic abilities (all SPORTS you can think of), many complete college credits while HS, learn other languages such as Spanish, French or something else, be in choir, band or play multiple instruments, participated in STEM programs, spelling Bee.. and the list goes on and on… sorry a tired parent 🙂

    2. renu verma

      Even doing PhD is much more difficult here than the US. I have a friend who did PhD from Cambridge and is doing post doc from Albert Einstein in New York and he told me that the competition is very tough here because of the larger number of students.

  6. Ronak Mac

    To summarise it:

    In India, people will 100% judge you by your grades and your profession (Atleast this is what I’ve clearly observed)

    For instance : People will give more respect a doctor compare to teacher !!!! 😐

    1. Isha Agrawal

      Someone here said its tougher for an engineer to get through the course. Well I do not agree on that. I am refering to same middle class thinking, people grow up with listening to stuffs like engineering course has more exams than any other course. It may be true but again we have grown up neing afraid from exams and assignments so it seems tough. The couree like engineering has many aspects and checkpoints where it is needed to sit back and practice. Other course do have tougher exams, also its the whole system by companies here. Any MNC here look for engineer. I have seen an engineer with back papers and second class percentage earning lakh per month, he is earning more than a person with first class pass MBA. So people know even a failed engineering student eventually earns lakhs. Its just an observation I saw.
      Society here suggests a lot, arey yaar engineering karwa do, hamne apne ladke ko karaya hai kabhi na kabhi america chala hi jayega. Commerce liye ho to IAS, Bank k exams ke liye tayyari karo. That demoralises even supportive parents finally.

    2. Phalgun G

      @Aditya Athani thats right, to add to ur point everybody should deserve respect irrespective of their profession. A person who changes the society can come from everywhere. This thread has lost the way…. Its definitely should not be about profession/wealth

  7. Mark

    You picked the most expensive city in the US to live in (NYC). In most cities, your $20 umbrella would be $5 and your $10 salad would be $5. Apartments in NYC are about the size of a bedroom in most US apartments. NYC, San Francisco and Boston are suppose to be the 3 highest cost of living cities. You made all great points!

  8. LifeHappened **

    My culture shock:
    1.No jet spray, people use toilet paper. I do my Indian way.
    2. No human resource here. People are totally dependent on electric and metal items.
    3. Too much use and throw culture,hence waste generation is too much.

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