I have tackled the biggest cultural shock when I moved from the Philippines to the United States. Why then was I apprehensive about moving to Ames, Iowa from Washington DC, I asked myself while I was on the plane enroute to the midwest. They are both in good old USA after all.
Perhaps it was the caricatures that my classmates at George Washington University were painting as they brought me to the airport. Mitch pointed to a guy with a cowboy hat and remarked I would see a lot of those. Then another warned me about preparing for a lot of snow. They went on and on.
When I was on the plane I met a family who told me people in Ames have special equipment for snow removal. The young daughter excitedly described a big roller type with brushes on both sides to sweep the snow.
When we said goodbye, the family looked amused on how worried I was and gave me reassuring smiles. I took a shuttle to Iowa State University and I passed by fields after fields of corn and just soaked in the flat landscape.
I arrived at the L shaped graduate dorm, Buchanan Hall, and got into the suite I was occupying with my roommate from China. On the adjacent room were two ladies from Iran that we shared a bathroom with. The room had a bed and desk ready for me. The only additional piece was my roommate's refrigerator. We each had built in closet with a mirror and sort of dresser attached to it. Down the hall I met Filipino graduate students, Nieva and Manny, who shared meals together.
More than fifty percent of the graduate students at ISU are from different countries and that could be gleaned from the people in the dorm. All continents were represented. Down the hall from our room was a small kitchen where one would savor the international feel of the dorm from the different aromas emanating from the food being cooked by the students.
Across from the dorm was the University President's residence on top of a man-made knoll. Just a short walk from it was the Memorial Union and right beside it the famous Campanile. Both were located where the beautiful quadrangle was. I would be passing this peaceful scene with its trees and flowers and large patch of grass in the middle on my way to and from the dorm to my office in Gilman Hall which housed the Chemistry Department during my stay in Ames.
I noticed that every street corner in Ames was practically graced by a church of different denominations. At the St. Thomas More, the Catholic Church at the University, I finally met people from Ames. I did not meet any men in cowboy hats like Mitch said. From then on caricatures were gone and so were all my worries of culture differences. This was now home for me. Everybody I had met so far had made me feel so.
This is Part 9 of the series From Longaniza to Hot Dog which recounts my immigration to the United States from the Philippines. You might want to read the following:
From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 1 Brooklyn and Sao Paolo From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 2 Muito Obrigada and Baden Baden
From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 3 Life Changing Question
From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 4 Second Thoughts
From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 5 Places I Lived At In Washington DC
From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 6 People and Places
From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 7 At the Crossroad
From Longaniza to Hot Dog Part 8 . Much Needed Break
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