Culture Guide

This is the second sequel to the Expatriates post.

Along with food, my other main concern when I moved to the U.S was adapting to its culture. Even though I had a little insight on American culture, I still felt I was lost in the sea. Most of my knowledge came from Cartoon Network shows. This channel aired shows similar to Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, and Wizards of Waverly Place. Most of these shows over-exaggerated the facts.

Once I moved to the U.S, I learned a lot through personal experience. The CN shows never mentioned anything about swear words, and offending actions. First few weeks into my eighth grade, a girl called me the "B" word! At that time I never knew what it meant...So I just didn't respond. However, I later learned from my friends that it was one of the many swear words students aren't advised to use.

Learning the hard way, it dawned on me that the CN shows did not always tell the truth. I had to make myself open to new possibilities, ideas, and mindset. I had to stop comparing every situation back to what I learned from the CN shows. However, there was one good thing: I didn't have much of an accent when I moved to the U.S.

When moving to a new country, I would advice you to research a little about the customs and traditions. As for people who intend to move to India, go online and research about your city. More importantly, learn about all of the religious and government holidays, religious ceremonies, and also other festivals pertaining to your neighborhood. There's nothing worse than offending an Indian during one of their religious ceremonies.

Here are a few websites that provide great information about the culture:

http://www.indian-heritage.org/

http://www.thecolorsofindia.com/interesting-facts/culture/index.html

This is the official Indian Tourism website:

http://www.incredibleindia.org/index.html

My main mistake was that I had a fixed mind set and was never opened to new opportunities. I had to stop thinking like an Indian so that I could get a full experience of American Culture. A few years later, I started mixing American and Indian culture and started a new trend among my family and my friends.

New cultures are always fun and exciting. Always make sure you have a few friends that are willing to help you understand and to help you get acquainted to the new culture. Don't feel embarrassed to ask them any questions about the customs; the best way to learn is always to ask questions.

Food Guide

This is the first sequel to the Expatriates post.

I don't know about everyone, but for me the most important issue in a different country is food. Moving to America, I had so many food problems. I was used to eating spicy food in India that I thought I might throw up at the sight of American food. I didn't like anything: hated pizza, hot dogs, and any type of food. The only food that appealed to me was McChicken sandwich and Arby's Curly fries. However, I later realized that I have to get acquainted to American food. Everyday I forced myself to try something new.

When I was in eighth grade, I didn't have school food. I always had a sack lunch. However, towards the end of the school year, I grew accustomed to the American food that I decided to stop taking home lunch in when I went to high school.

Getting acquainted to Indian is equally harder. For expatriates moving to one of the big cities like, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad, have access to American fast-food restaurants like McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut. They would not have to force themselves to like Indian food. However, expatriates moving to a small town will not be able access to any of these American foods, unless they live near one of these big cities. They would have to learn to like Indian food.

The most important advice to remember: taste any food before buying it. While in a restaurant, items on the menu might sound tasty and interesting. However, always taste before ordering. Most of the dishes will be spicy and you will be on fire when you eat them. Otherwise you can ask the waiter to make it less spicy for you.

Indian people tend to use a lot of chili powder and pepper in their food. Chili powder is red in color and is very spicy. It is made from red-chili peppers. Therefore when shopping in the grocery store, make sure you don’t get chili powder if you don’t want your food to become spicy.
Also Indian cooking uses a lot of turmeric powder. It is very good for your health; it is one of the spices that helps prevent the development of tumor. This is one of the reasons why Indian people don’t develop cancer much.

Other than that, please keep in mind to eat at a reputable restaurant. There are a lot of street vendors who sell food. They might look inviting, but please don’t eat anything from them. Most of them cook their food with un-clean water, use degraded vegetables, and never take care of their surroundings. Chances of you getting sick after eating from them are very high. Also, don’t by soda from them. They are not of good quality. If you feel thirsty, or hungry make sure you find a three, four, or five-star restaurant. Even though they might charge you a higher price, you will not have to make frequent visits to the doctor.

These are some of the most important things to keep in mind when trying to get acquainted to the food in India. It always helps to have a neighbor help you out in times of need. That’s what I did when I first moved to the U.S!