Compare And Contrast American Culture Vs South African Culture

Most American people I have talk to so far, think that they are different from other people in the world especial people from Africa. They think that if they were to move to Africa, they would have to live a different life style than they are used to, or they simply would not manage to adopt to the “African culture”. Well, for the most part, most of the information the American people have is based on the stereotypes and what the media presents. It is not necessarily correct. Surprisingly, I though life was going to be different before coming to the USA from South Africa. Nonetheless, I would admit that most of Americans would find it hard to adopt to not only some African cultures, but also any other culture outside their country. However, life in South Africa is more similar to the life in the USA than most people expect.

Before going to South

Africa, I did not know what it feels like to have summer or winter periods. Where I come from, Rwanda, we only have spring and autumn, which are in the middle of summer and winter. However, the weather in South Africa is more similar to the weather in some American state. Temperatures go below negative during winter periods with a lot of hail storms and strong winds and sometimes snow. They also go as high as 48.4 °C, which is approximately 119.12 °F in some part of the country. I remember on day were we were supposed to write an exam in the morning and it was -2 °C, they had to warm up the room before students to could start their exam. Most of the time, exams which were not international could be postponed for later date due to unexpected lower temperature, hailstorms or strong lightening.
Surprisingly, when I came to Arizona, I thought I was going to live in a desert. I was wearing a sweater, black jeans and high boots when I left Rwanda. This was because it was raining when I left Rwanda and it was also a little bit cold in the plane. When I stepped outside the plane, I immediately felt the difference in temperature; it was 45 degrees Celsius which is approximately 113 degrees Fahrenheit, and the first thing I did was to remove my sweater and looked for a bathroom to change my clothes. Unexpectedly, it rained just on my second day here in the Arizona. I could not believe it, so I went outside to see. I was surprised that the rain itself was warm like a warm shower; thirty minutes after, the rain was already dry. There was not sign that it had rained. However, when I call my friends who had gone to other states, they told me that it started to get cold; some of them were sending me picture with snow covering their houses and trees. It is exactly the same situations I had to adopt to when I reached in South Africa.
“You should look your professor in the eyes when you are talking to them (the Americans),” said Mr. Peter, my student advisor in South Africa. In Rwanda, my culture does not allow young people to look in the eyes of their elders once they are talking to them. Well, most of my professors in South Africa graduated from the US universities, which means that they were familiar with the American culture. Even though it made me uncomfortable, I had to learn to how to do it the hard way because I did not have any other choice. In addition, it was my first time to hear about Halloween; people dressed crazy on that day, and while it seemed weird to me, for them it was normal and fun since it had been part of their culture for a long time. I remember my South African friends started buying their Halloween outfit one week in advance. On the night of Halloween, I was really tired and wanted to sleep, but my friends did not allow me. Even though I did not have the appropriate outfit, I was forced to pretend as if it was normal to me. Furthermore, South Africans celebrate other international holidays, such as Labor Day, Human Rights Day and have other random public holidays which I normally did not celebrate back in Rwanda.
In the same way, the American culture is analogous to the South African’s.

From my experience, when I was interviewed for my scholarship, I already knew that maintaining an eye contact is not only crucial when talking with to my interviewer but also to any American. In addition, even though I knew that Halloween is part of the American culture here in the USA, I did not know that it would be as crazy as it seemed to me in South Africa. Like my South African friends, my I released the American preparing prepare for Halloween in advance; my American friends bought their Halloween outfit from home. On the night of Halloween, I was astonished by how literally everyone was prepared to party and the most importantly, how many types of weird outfits people were wearing. As usual, I was not prepared, no Halloween costume even though I was invited by my American friends. I was shocked that it was as crazy as I expected it to be, considering my experience in South Africa; for example, there are some people who were almost naked, some took their creativity to another level by wearing mailing boxes, vampire and other beast

costumes.