Watching Hollywood movies on MBC2 made almost every Jordanian dream of the day their feet would wander around New York City or drive around Cali. As students make their way into international high schools, they start to think about their choices of studying abroad, and since the US has some of the finest universities in the world, the idea of coming here becomes even more attractive. So Jordanian students come here with expectations and soon enough they realize the following!

1. America is not like the movies!

Skyscrapers are not everywhere! Just like Jordan, there are cities and there are small towns. It is hard to get used when you come from the capital city of Amman and settle in a small town. Most places close at 6-7, not 1-2 am.

2. You always see people you know at airports

You always run into people from your high school at JFK, Chicago, or Amman airports and you probably had a classmate on the same plane before.

3. You're practically jet lagged for like two months every year

A 7 hour time difference between Jordan and the east coast is a lot of time and it takes long to get used to. Since most of us fly back around Christmas and spend only a month in Jordan, we don't even bother fixing our sleep schedules!

4. You're always late to everything

Whether it's classes or parties or lunch plans, we can't help it when we come from a place where everyone does it! It takes some time to get used to the fact that people start going out at 8 here instead of 11!

5. This place is huge

Jordan is only 3 times the size of Maryland. You can get from the northern border to the Red Sea in the south in less than 4 hours. When we come here, we're overwhelmed by how huge this place is to the point that you could drive for over an hour and get nowhere...

6. The system of measurement doesn't make sense

You probably have tried buying a Jordan flag online to hang in your dorm room and were surprised by its size when it came. It takes some time to know the difference between 4' and 4''

7. You're willing to drive so far to eat Mansaf or anything remotely Jordanian

Dining hall food never satisfies us, or anyone.. so you're willing to go anywhere to get any good meal whatsoever, and you'd do anything Jordanian that you've never even done in Jordan. Like if you never smoked shisha before in Jordan, you'd do that here!

8. You're known around campus for wearing the awesome red and white scarf

The warmest and most fashionable scarf on earth, hands down, the Jordanian shemagh is simply awesome! And you probably promised someone you'd get them one before but never actually did because you secretly want to be the only one rocking it

9. You have to constantly tell people that the letters on the back of your senior jacket are the initials of your high school, not a frat's

Jordan's high schools make these awesome jackets for their graduating senior classes. Surprisingly the warmest jacket you have, but it's frustrating when you have to constantly tell people that KA stands for King's Academy and not Kappa Alpha

10. No one believes you when you say it snows in Jordan

But, but, but, but it's a desert... Well, we get hot summers and cold winters and yes, it snows!

11. People butcher your name all the time

At first, you try hard but you embrace it later on.. and you probably promised somebody you'd teach them Arabic but never really did!

12. Jordan does not have oil

You always have to convince people that Jordan isn't rich like the rest of the Middle East, so we don't have oil, or Arab money, or resources whatsoever, but we have hard working people who believe education is the way to develop further.

13. If you're a football fan... you're always disappointed

It's the whole thing: from the time difference, to finding channel viewings, to the commentary, to finding people to play with, to finding actually decent people to play with, to even finding someone to talk to about how tempting it is to skip that 3 o'clock class on a Tuesday afternoon when Champions League is going on!

14. You're everyone's Santa...

The last weeks before you fly back to Jordan are stressful and your family and friends from home annoy you with requests to buy them stuff. Your cousin wants beats, your friend wants a shirt, and your uncle is convinced they have iPhone 7 here but you don't want to buy him one!