For many new people arriving in the USA from Egypt, Libya, Bahrain in the upcoming months, as someone who moved from another country five years ago – know that often everything you are, do, create, share or have culturally within, will be viewed as a scientific experiment when you move to the US. You will perpetually be judged. Be prepared for that feeling, never to go away, the whole time you are here. Remember that most people judging you, have never travelled or been as brave as you have by living in a culture they weren’t born into like you have. So take their criticisms with a grain of salt on your brave journey forward, as well as seeing all comments as constructive criticism too. For what purpose? only you will know that if you find these new comments useful.
I don’t think anything prepares people outside the US for the degree that America is a consumer nation. Also a nation that can be voyeuristic too, watching on average per US citizen, 34 hours of TV a week (2010 survey results). The US thrives on consuming exotic culture and hand picking the parts of your culture most useful.
You’ll get used to it. But yeah, it does make you feel like a lab hamster at times.
Here’s that word again, EXPERIMENT. If you’re one of these people who are a new arrival from the Mid East into America to aid you on your settling in process into US community life. Via Dictionary Reference.Com Experiment means: