5 Culture Shocks Entering USA from India | Graduate Student, Columbia University
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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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You know you’re in the wrong country when a burger costs more than a salad.
U ppl literally mean tat farmers has no value ?
True bro
Lol, to be fair…. because its easier for USA to ship their produce, they can sell it where ever and it drives up the prices where as India is forced to sell them at home.
No you are in right country when burger cost more than salad…as salad is healthy and should be more affordable.
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That guy at the back is doing a lot of stretching 😛
U can even hear it thud! Thud!
stupid
I couldn’t concentrate on the vid after saw ur comment ??
Hao laude dekhe humne
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People in India pay more to eat at Mc D while vegetables are so cheap here.
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.
@Bhavesh Patel Its the food capital of the world, and btw there are more GMO’s in the world than you realize. Dwarf wheat helped many countries avoid famine.
There people who are poor visit Mc D
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
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
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
Little water gun ??
Carry watergun
@Arthur Morgan hell no
@Tanaya Paradkar Really? I wonder why more than 50% of your population lives without toilets and defecates on the street.
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
@vipul bansal As a high teenager in America i can confirm ?
@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.
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Not if you are worthy enough and are able to get a scholarship. If I was to choose between studying subsidised in India Vs US, I would choose US without a secondary thought.
Post graduation is free in Europe….but they have sense of responsibility
Yar meri dukan hai
Umbrella sirf 100 rupai me
@cheks flex mai free mai deta hoon
Meri mei 20
Chutiya umbrella hoga?
600 ka nacho
Haahhaahhaha brooo
In india most of our time will be spent on classrooms we don’t have time to work our system is totally messed up
@Bush george thats right
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.
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.
True..
Yeahhh?
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.
astoria791 haha whatta a great point! That’s why India is so dirty due to so much of litter around.
@hobieclipsis that isn’t a good point… At least she shouldn’t throw it away, the employees aren’t asked to just throw away the cancelled orders in the trash
Donut is garbage so she show it the right place ??
@Prateek Sharma Donuts are awesome, idiot. Almost every Dunkin Donuts in the US are owned by Indian-Americans.
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.
@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.
@Shivani B so true
@Shivani B ??
@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..
its actually also like that in europe..here you dont work here unless you are fully out of school
The best thing abroad is that they truly believe in having a balance between personal and professional life. It’s not only work work work or the opposite.
Thats so true indians this if you wnat a good professional life you gotta ditch your perspnal life and happiness
@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…
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!
Not necessarily, there are people in US of A who are all about work, work etc.
It’s a choice you can make between making more and making average
This is so not true in the US!
I’m from the US and it’s interesting to hear the other perspective. Cause I get a culture shock when I go to India
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.
Bro, there is a separate pipe for drinking water and then we put purifiers over it just to be careful. But I agree, still in many areas, there is a water quality issue
bro , in new delhi , india tap water is drinkable
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. ???
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]
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 .
“Small talk” is one of the major culture shocks I’ve witnessed in the USA.
@Free Commentor that’s a sweet gesture I guess
@prisha ‘ How about smiling to a stranger, without a good reason? Most Sri Lankans do that.
@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.)
@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. ???)
@Free Commentor I’m indian and tbh it would be awkward for me to talk to a stranger too
I got more shock back in my country with studies and people stare at you all the time
@Bush george wow you’re that troll I don’t wanna mess around with
@Bush george says where?
@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
@Bush george you don’t have to live in there to be called Bangladeshi!
His father is Bangladeshi, which makes him bangladeshi origin
@Bush george then make sure you can’t!
Wow… you’re studying in a private Ivy League… that’s really cool… congrats and good luck
@Punam Singh is masters really easy in USA???
@Siva Barth sorry I apologize I really didn’t know that Columbia is also an ivy leage college. And I didn’t mean the acceptance rate actually I meant the entrance exam
@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 🙂
@Pooja Y actually Columbia is ivy league
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.
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 !!!! 😐
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.
You don’t know the judging culture of USA or their capitalism
I am indian too and it’s not like this. Especially in rural areas where if you get a good job its enough. No one is going to judge you
@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
Hahah…what an irony… everyday a doctor is assaulted in my country…
In the age of the Internet the culture shock is far less than what it was until as recently as 30 years ago.
So true.
Most teenagers and college students work to pay for their education. A lot of people have multiple jobs as well. It’s kinda the norm here lol
@Bharath lol
Stop using LOL after you finish every statement….the statement ain’t funny
Yes it is…. But it’s not easy in India……in India we can’t learn and earn like you guy’s…. Because my country doesn’t provide it…..
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 $5. Apartments in NYC are about the size of a bedroom in most US apartments. NYC, San Francisco and Boston are suppose to be the 3 highest cost of living cities. You made all great points!
how can you forget LA smh
Go Bears!! Cal 1987.
5$ is again 350 rupees for me so imma just not going to buy much as a tourist here ??
Does it depend on the quality?
Sir which city is best for living in US pls guide me
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.
I really don’t like this use and throw culture? Why do they do so. Is it convinience or lack of good options?
@Hello# what about East Asia, middle east, Africa?
Bhosdiwalo usa ke paas utne trees bhi hai. Jara usa ki wildlife dekho fir bolo. India me abhi bhi 10% trees kam hai for healthy environment
I use toilet paper but after I also wash with water and soup. Just dry wiping in my opinion is not very clean ..
@Hello# you are so ignorant, like a typical american, “oh we do (insert somethings only Americans do) here all the time so it must mean everybody in the world does the same”.