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Über Column: Moving to America
Photo Credit: Eric Evans
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Written by Viktor Kewenig
Moving to a foreign country is difficult to organize. You have to get a visa, budget the money, sign up through a program, and find a guest family. Because of all these things you are lucky to find a family at all, even if this family lives somewhere like Alaska, Minnesota, or North Dakota. You learn to be happy with what you get.
So you can imagine that I was pretty excited to hear that I was going to California, since this is one of the best places you can be in the United States.
The next step was deciding whether to attend public or private school. Of course a private school has many advantages; they probably have better equipment, a “nice” environment and very qualified teachers. However, I decided I wanted to get to know the real American people and culture, and didn’t want an environment that is so artificial and protected.
I am really glad I made the choice to go to M-A. Moving to a new country on your own, you learn to watch out for yourself. You become more confident, and get a first impression of life as an adult. Suddenly I have to wash the dishes and make my own lunch, while in Germany my mom would wash my clothes and I would go home for lunch.
The food in America is also very different. The only fast food in Germany is McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut. We don’t have things like In-n-Out, Taco Bell, or Chevy’s. Mexican food is quite rare and there are a variety of different kinds of pizza in America, most of them I had never heard of. In Germany I would eat potato dumplings, potato pancakes, or I would go to Italian, Vietnamese, and French restaurants. Overall American food is more fattening than German food. However, a lot of it tastes much better, except for root beer, which in my opinion tastes like plastic.
Going to school in America is different in many ways. In Germany, we don’t have school pride, and activities such as sports, clubs, leadership, or dances. Furthermore, the classrooms have much better equipment here. One could only dream in Germany of having a SmartBoard in the classroom. Even a laptop is a really special thing in the school. In Germany you have to rent them for a PowerPoint presentation.
For me, the biggest surprise was learning that the people are quite the same; they actually have the same slang as in Europe. Perhaps it is because we are all influenced by musicians and movies. On the whole my first impressions of M-A are really good, and I hope it continues going on this well, for the rest of my stay. I’ll keep you updated.
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Photo credit Leah Worthington
WEEKLY CAPTION CONTEST:
October 9th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I like the comment about root beer.
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October 9th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Welcome!
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October 10th, 2009 at 12:46 am
damn straight california is the best place to be
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October 10th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Wow I want to go to Eurpoe to see what it’s like over there. It seems so much cooler then here. Although it could just be the adage “things look greener on the other side” or something like that. But also it’s great that you wanted to learn about us Californians for yourself. =)
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October 11th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
You’re so lucky to be traveling around! I absolutely love to travel and I hope I can visit Germany some day. Welcome to California and I’m glad that you’re enjoying yourself at MA. Go Bears!
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October 11th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
I’m glad you are enjoying your time at MA. Also, I would like to thank you for taking the time to write about your experiences abroad.
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October 12th, 2009 at 6:01 am
I think this is really cool that you are moving to a country all on your own, and in a way I envy the fact you have the courage to do something like that. You actually haven’t met me yet, but from what my team members have said you are on my soccer team, which is amazing…and apparently your the only reason we won the game YAY! I really look forward to meeting you at practice, and i completely agree with you about root bear. Welcome to Cali
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October 19th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
It’s awesome to hear that you’re enjoying your time here! It seems like it would be a lot of fun to travel abroad somewhere, but it sure seems like a lot of work! Yeah, my friend lived abroad in Germany for a year and she told me how she had to explain to a few people that some slang words were the same. It was pretty funny to hear. xD
Hope you continue to enjoy your experiences abroad and, as said by many others, welcome to Cali! ^^
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October 20th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Welcome to California! I think its really cool that you moved all the way here from Germany. It’s good you’re enjoying M-A!
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November 8th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Welcome to America. Glad to know you’re liking it. I had some French kids come stay at my house over the summer and they would only tell us about how great Europe is in comparison. Good to have some Europeans who don’t see America as a bunch of pigheads. Cheers.
-Kevin
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November 18th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I feel the same way about Root Beer. I hate it and always will haha.
Why did you decide to go to school in america in the first place? I envy you, I wish I could go to school in a foreign country.
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November 18th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I’m so glad that you’re enjoying America!! I’ve talked to you a couple times before, and you seem like you’ve adjusted quite well! It’s amazing that you have the courage to live in a different country alone without the safety of your home and family! Welcome to America!
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