By Qianyu (Margaret) Cheng
Time goes fast. When I notice it is already in the middle of the April. At the time between April and May, Surprisingly, while sun is shiny all over the place, occasionally the snow will also appear for a minute or two. The harmony of snowflake and sunshine is a sort of beauty that beyond description. The weather in Champaign is a little bit different from my hometown, but I love both.
The snow represents the extreme winter and sunshine represents the very summer, the overlapping of these two is really appealing. Just like the weather, the difference in culture is somehow the same. The difference between western culture and eastern culture is just like that. During the two years’ studying abroad experience, I get the feeling that both of them are beautiful and unique.
First of all, in western culture, people express themselves more straightforward, while in eastern culture people are more reserved. If my American friend has to refuse me for something, he will say it directly. In Chinese culture however, if the thing you have to say may hurt someone’s feeling, he may say it indirectly. For example, if a friend, for some reason, did not want me to join his trip, he would talk to me and told me why he did not want me to go. However if it is a Chinese, he may tell me a reasonable reason that will not hurt my feeling. Both are reasonable and considerate, but it takes me a while to get used to the former one.
The classroom atmosphere is also different. Maybe it is more of the difference between high school and college, but in U of I classroom, the professors encourage students to ask question at any moment of time. What’s more, they often tell jokes and talk to us about their family. Professors are more like friends than teachers. In my high school the teachers are more like teachers.
Another thing I notice is that it is more individualism in western culture. I had a roommate in my freshman year and she was in food science major. As a result she had a completely different schedule as mine. We didn't see each other as much and sometimes we just said, “Hey, how are you?” And that’s all. It turned out that we both had different lifestyle and after we moved out in sophomore year, I haven’t seen her since then. However, I feel like although I like to be around with several closed friends, sometimes it is good to stay just by myself and be alone. It is the same with study. Study alone can be more efficient and teamwork can also save a lot of time and bring new inspiring.
In U of I, I am experiencing different cultures, and when the cultures mingles together, the world is much more smaller.