学了英文去了美国才知道的事
为什么？
我父亲是一个电影迷。我经常和他一起看哈利波特，指环王等欧美大片，并了解到各种美国人的生活习惯和风土习俗。我从未想过我自己会过上汉堡薯条三明治，冰水咖啡烤牛排的生活。但自从14岁那年的春天，当我拿到来自印第安春泉的录取通知书时，我知道我的生活将会发生天翻地覆的变化。当时对这片新大陆的陌生感让我十分兴奋，但又让我非常的紧张。
就从我乘坐美国航空降落在达拉斯机场时，我发现我一直在问我自己同一个简短但却复杂的问题：为什么？为什么他们要在飞机降落的时候鼓掌？为什么他们的麦当劳饮料杯子会这么大？为什么？
这已经是我第四年来到美高读书了。我在学校混的还行，对音乐和体育的热爱让我结识了许多值得交往一生的美国朋友。初来美国我体会到的文化差异和语言屏障让我郁闷了不少，但我还是庆幸我当时选择了坚持下去。最终让我融入美国文化的其实不完全是我坚持每天和当地人英语和我相对开朗的性格，其实这还是得归功于那些一路上帮助我的美国朋友们。如果不是他们的包容和理解，我想我今天不会在社交上有任何的成就，这篇文章也不会出现。
对我印象比较深刻的是美国人的热情，可以说美国是一个非常鼓励外向者的国家。因为第一印象非常重要，再者美国人喜欢对自己的观点不佳遮掩的表现出来，所以第一次来到美国的中国人会被其大街上热情打招呼的美国人打动到。相比来说，东亚人的儒家文化着重一种集体感；对他人的观点洗耳恭听，对自己的观点相对矜持。带着爱面子的社交传统，中国人一般不主动搭讪别人。
美国人的问候非常简单，但这却是美国人社交的精髓。我想它也可算是一门艺术。我第一次来美国的时候非常的不自在，因为在国内我们很不习惯主动和陌生人打招呼；这是一种在国内会被普遍认为古怪，奇葩的行为。主动向你问好的陌生人一般只有房产公司和健身教练。但我知道世界通用问好——点头，挥手，和哈罗。所以当初第一次来美国，我就嘴边一边哈罗，一边点头，一边挥手，来回敬美国人的友好的问候。
但我怎么会知道wassup是是什么意思? 初中英语课上只学过”hi, how are you?”, 回答”I’m fine, thank you, and you”这种基本的英语问候套路。正常英语是母语的人根本不按这套路说。what’s poppin, sup bro, 或者一个yo都是美国人最常用的问候语，但这对初来美国不会说英文的我是非常大的烦恼。我并不知道他们在说什么，光点头说哈罗, 装作自己英文很好，让我显得非常的尴尬。后来遇到一些非常友善的美国朋友，才胆怯的小心翼翼的问他们what’s up，生怕是丢了我自己的脸。
我感觉还是我小时候没看对电影。如果我当时不是和我爸看那些作案杀人杀僵尸的美国大片，而是看high school musical，那一定会让初来美国的我轻松很多。
美国文化非常独特，也很有意思。其中我接纳了部分，但也有些部分我不是完全可以接受。文章标题为“学了英文去了美国才知道的事”，我想把我自己一些在美国有趣的文化冲击记录下来：现在去回忆起那些让我惊讶的瞬间让我感到非常的尴尬，但这对我来说是一种对虚荣心的满足，对成长的享受。这将会是一个系列，希望我能一个月发表一篇，每一篇介绍一两个文化差异。
Things I’ve Learned after Coming to America
Why?
My father is a movie buff. Growing up, I would often watch Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and other Western movies with him, and they taught me all about American life and customs. I would have never imagined myself to live a life of hamburger, fries, sandwiches, grilled steaks, iced water, and coffee. But in the Spring of my fourteen-year old life, I received my admission letter from Indian Springs and immediately knew that my life as I knew it was about to be turned upside down. I was undeniably excited, but the strange idea of going to a completely new world made me very nervous too.
From the moment my American Airlines flight landed in Fort Worth International airport, I found myself asking the same question over and over again. Why?
Why do they applaud after the plane lands?
Why are their McDonald’s drink cups so big?
Why…?
This is my fourth year living in America. I was decent at balancing school, and my love for music and sports allowed me to meet local friends who I knew were worthy of keeping for a lifetime. When I first came to America, the cultural differences and language barriers were difficult to handle, but I am undeniably thankful that I stuck through it. At the end of the day, what let me truly integrate into American culture was not my insistence on talking to locals in English every day or my arguably cheerful personality. Rather, it was those kind and understanding American friends who helped me along the way, without which I would not have been able to become the person I am–or write this article that you are reading–today.
One thing that struck me was the enthusiasm of Americans. The United States is a country that encourages extraversion. Because first impressions are important, Americans are incredibly friendly in the streets. This is completely different from China, in which the Confucian culture of East Asians emphasizes a sense of collectiveness, of listening to the opinions of the others and maintaining a reserved composure. With the further stressor of having to “save face,” Chinese people also tend to keep to themselves.
American greetings are simple but are the essence of American society. I would even consider them an art. When I first arrived, I was uncomfortable with the forwardness of strangers who took the initiative to greet you. Back home, strangers like these were usually members of real-estate companies or fitness coaches looking for targets. But I knew the universal signals of hello–nodding, waving, and well, “hello”. With that, I nodded and waved and mouthed hello through all these greetings.
But I was never taught “wassup” in Junior High English. I learned “hi,” how are you,” and to answer with “I’m fine, thank you, and you” in the simplest greeting routine, but native speakers don’t follow this pattern at all. “What’s popping,” “‘sup bro,” or “a-yo” are such common greetings in America that it was a big annoyance to me when I first came here. I didn’t know what Americans were talking about, and simply nodding and saying “hello,” pretending I speak fluent English, made me unbelievably embarrassed. Later, after I’d met some friendly locals, I timidly said, “what’s up” to greet them, for fear of losing face.
I feel as though I didn’t watch the right movies growing up. Maybe if I wasn’t watching American blockbuster’s with crime and zombies but instead High School Musical, my transition to the United States might have been easier.
America has a unique and interesting culture. I have accepted many of these quirks, but there are also some parts that I still cannot completely understand. This article is titled “Things I’ve Learned after Coming to America,” and I hope to record my own culture shocks when I first came. It’s embarrassing to recall these moments now, but I also believe that there is satisfaction in growth. This will be a series, and I hope to publish an article every month covering various cultural differences.
Translation by Carina Lim ‘21