From May 2010:

Questions

1. Where are you from?
2. How long have you been here?
3. Why did you come to the United States?
4. How is your home country different from the US?
5. What did you expect the US was going to be like before you got here?
6. How is it similar or different to your expectations in reality? 

Timea Pap

1. Budapest, Hungary
2. Three years
3. “My sister had already lived here for nine years and she wanted me to come try out a school in the area.”
4. “The mentality here is really different. It is hard to have a meaningful conversation with people sometimes. It is culturally very different too; you don’t really get the culture here.”
5. “I knew a little bit about it because of my sister, but I thought everything was going to be fake and plastic because that’s the way the sweets my sister brought me tasted.”
6. “People don’t really talk about serious things here, but they are very open and friendly to other cultures.”

Wei Sun

1. Beijing, China
2. One year, eight months
3. “My mom has been here for 15 years and I just got my visa, so I moved over here.”
4. “In China, if people don’t know you, they won’t talk to you, but here, people are friendly.”
5. “I thought it would be the same but I thought relationships, like boyfriend-girlfriend, would be more open.”
6. “Relationships are actually more open in China.”

Syeda Jannath

1. Lived in Dhaka, born in Sylhet, Bangladesh
2. Two years
3. “I came here for a better life as an immigrant with my mom.”
4. “Everything was different in Bangladesh. Schools were different because the students didn’t switch classes and students didn’t really get part-time jobs like over here.”
5. “I thought it would be harder for me, but I got a job after eight months.”
6. “I realized the US was a country of opportunity and people give me the opportunities to do what I want.”

Ebrima Joof

1. Banjou, Gambia
2. Six years
3. “I came here to go to school.”
4. “Education over there is not good and you get spanked as punishment!”
5. “I thought it was going to be like rappers and rich and famous people all around.”
6. “It is the same; as seen on TV.”

Ashni Patel

1. Banglore, India
2. Ten years
3. “My mom’s family was over here and we came for vacation and just stayed instead of going back.”
4. “It is dirtier and not as developed. And, there are no traffic rules; people drive on the wrong side of the street!”
5. “I thought it was going to be like Disney World! Well, I really didn’t know what to expect; it was just a faraway place.”
6. “I didn’t really expect anything because we were only supposed to stay for vacation.” 

Lennart Schulz

1. Kiel, Germany
2. Eight months (German exchange student)
3. “I wanted to experience the American way of life and to learn English.”
4. “In Germany there are no black people, the school system is different, and there are no clubs or sports after school.”
5. “I expected the stereotype of America: friendly people, fat people, and black people. I expected school stereotypes like football games and cheerleading.”
6. “It was really a culture shock because of all the black people and people are friendlier and open here.”