International students don’t only experience a culture shock when they come studying in the United States. For a country that is believed to be a super power and offer a great education, its people are completely ignorant and unaware of other countries’ cultures and current situations. I have heard my fellow international students complain about being asked stupid and ignorant questions about their home countries. Just because people they are not from a country like France or Italy does not mean they live back in time or their country is not worth knowing.
Many International students have been asked ridiculous questions about their home countries. Questions like: “do you know what French fries are?”, “do you know what scrambled eggs are?”, “have you ever seen a TV?”, “do you get know what technology is or get access to it?”, “do you sleep on a bed?”, “how do you get access to shoes?” or “do you live in a jungle because you have mountains in your country?” Some have been addressed with comments like, “I didn’t know pianos existed in that part of the world,” “you don’t have a civilization,” and “Africa is a country.”
Those are only few of the typical questions international students get asked as they come studying in The United States. They travel a long way from the comfort of their home, not much different from some of the common things seen in the United States, only to be asked questions that reflect a lack of awareness from people they are going to spend the next four years with.
Imagine, the first few months of your stay in a different country, being asked whether you live in a house or in a tree because you’re from a different country or continent, or whether you have monkeys or other sorts of animals roaming around the country. It puts you on the defensive. Ronalyn, an international student from the Philippines remarked that “Some people asked ignorant questions sometimes you get so pissed about it, but sometimes you just try to understand.” It is outrageous to see this ignorance or be asked these kinds of questions, especially when one is living in a completely new country. This type of ignorance is non-ceasing. These comments are continuously made by domestic students even when they have received contradictory answers.
Believe or not, squirrels are not as present in America the same way you see zebras and lions in the streets of Africa. The belief that the United States is the greatest country in the world puts Americans in the position to ignore that other countries have an importance. Americans need to be more humble in their approach with people from other countries. They need to show, if not basic knowledge at least interest in retaining the information given to them. They needs to get off their high horses and realize that there are other countries in the world, and these countries’ cultures are unique and deserve more respect than they are credited.
