YenaKelly

It is the first day of school. You meet people coming from different schools. Perhaps you were a public school student your entire life until then, maybe you’re from a different city. Though it never once crossed your mind that someone in Nebraska didn’t always live in the U.S.

Sophomore Izumi Huang Fujiwara was born in El Salvador and lived in Japan before coming to the United States. Even though she hadn’t lived in those places for a very long time, she was able to recall her early childhood. “When I turned 3, it was like immediately coming from those other countries. I still spoke Spanish and I don’t think I would be the same person because I wouldn’t live my life in a similar way if I didn’t live in El Salvador,” Huang Fujiwara said.

Instead of culture shocks in those countries, she experiences more of her culture shock in the U.S. One example is, “Whenever I eat noodles, especially soup noodles, I like to slurp really loud. My dad never told me it was necessarily wrong to do that.” For Huang Fujiwara, food is a big part of her culture, and it is when she feels the most connected. With her multicultural background, she also knows a few languages. She is most familiar with English and Spanish but has limited knowledge of Japanese and Taiwanese. It wasn’t easy to know them as she had to relearn Spanish to be able to talk to family members.

While growing up in the States, Huang Fujiwara didn’t fully realize how her background would affect her until her middle school years. Appearance didn’t seem to matter until she started to hear stereotypical jokes about Asians and became more aware that she looked different from everyone else. She didn’t let the comments affect the way she viewed her background and continues to embrace it to this day.

Freshman Addison Bradley lived in Germany for three years. While nerve-wracking at first, she was quick to adapt to the new changes in her everyday life. Bradley grew to appreciate vacations and different cultures as her family also visited other European countries. “One time we went to London for like, probably $20, like round trip per person.” Through those trips, she felt bold to venture out and meet new friends. 

Some culture shocks Bradley experienced were a lack of air conditioning, being served warm drinks, and strict recycling. One of those shocks eventually became a huge part of her life at home as Bradley’s family is strict with recycling. After her time in Germany, she came to appreciate the cleanliness of her surroundings and believed the U.S. would benefit from better recycling.

Students from other countries allow us to learn from other cultures and be more sensitive to others’ backgrounds. Experiencing life in a different country has its challenges and interesting aspects. There is always something to learn