Rebekah Nathan's As Other See Us

American students have been such a question mark for the international students, their way of living and thinking is way different than any international student and this is noticeable. Students from all over the world notice a difficulty in dealing with the Americans and mentally understand them. Therefore, Rebekah Nathan argues that in her article “As Other See Us” and discusses the differences between the American and the international students. Moreover, she uses different evidence based on students from different backgrounds and cultures. Nathan goes over opinions and stories that happens with the international students in the US and what they think about these situation, which they considers weird in the eyes of the international students.

American students have a different life style, way of looking at things and they are selfish in someway.

They only care about themselves and they do every thing for themselves. Perhaps they gain that from how they use to live as they grow up and from the custom that every eighteen years old American should leave his or her parents home, starts his or her own life and here the story repeats again and again. This life style teaches the Americans that no matter who they will be friend with and who they will meet, they will leave one day and they will be nothing in their life, exactly in the same way they left their parents home who supposed to be their most beloved and important ones in their life. “International students saw ‘individualism’ and ‘independence’ as characteristic not only of roommate interactions but of relations with family and friends as well.” (Nathan 73). Therefore, American students apply this way of living even in the college life, which most of the international students do not have this kind of hard abundance. “’Americans have a lot of independence. At eighteen in Mexico, I can’t think of living by myself, but we think united is better, for both family ties and for expenses.’” (Nathan

73).
Moreover, Americans are “awfully nice”, they think by being sorry all the time for reasonable and unreasonable things, spreading smiles everywhere and saying hello to everyone, they will make a good relationships among others. However, this would work only if it comes out from their heart, in other words if they mean it. “And yet the words were without social substance.” (Nathan 69). “How are you?” Would sound better if it is really means what it exactly means. “How is going?” Would be great if it is only has some time to be responded. They should be more realistic and less faking, because being sorry for something they have nothing to do with would not help at all, but showing real physical, touchable and sensible help would be perfect.
In the end, International students in the US should know these difficulties and try to overcome them. Moreover, Americans should be aware that they are being nicely rude by doing several things and habits, which they are normal between Americans themselves and super weird in front of the international students. In addition, they should know that a lot of great expectations have been broken down right after the international student lived and dealt with American students. International students think that the United States of America is great, because of its people and how nice and friendly people they are. Therefore, Some habits need to be changed in the Americans behavior and more feelings need to be grown in their hearts, because day by day international students are changing their mind about having America as their best studying destination. If they did so and changed their mind, they would not be blamed, because living in America for the period of being an international student will force them to deal with such rude and weird situations almost everyday.