Culture Shocks

Among the plethora of culture shocks that faced us, as new emigrants - from the mild to the severe - since we got here, is the meat of this article, today.

Since both the US and Nigeria were former colonies of Uk, and therefore beneficiaries of her English language, we foresaw no communication challenges; so we thought! Unfortunately and to the dismay of Donald Trump, English language and Spanish share national prominence here, and so for us (we are left with one option). Confusingly for us however is the fact that,their version of English is spoken with so much accent and drawl, depending on which part of the Union you are.

Asking for directions or information reveals the difference in our lexicon: If you ask for toilet, the reaction is always the same. A deep furrow appears on their face in total consternation as if you are speaking an alien language. Then a wave of excitement follows as they gleefully "correct", you with, 'you meant bathroom'? What's the difference? Public facilities only have toilet provisions, while bathrooms are limited to private homes and hotel rooms. It is even more confusing when you get there and there are no bathroom facilities in such locations.

I asked my hostess for cotton bud, and was given cotton wool. In bewilderment, I explained that this will not serve purpose of cleaning my ears (which I was cleaning to enable me hear them lucidly). 'Ohh', she quipped, "you want Q-tips"? Our cotton wool is there cotton bud and our cotton bud is Q-tip. Whatever!

It is amazing how quickly kids adapt and acclimatized, while we are still grasping with the weather and laboring with everyday process, they are already coping with positive shocks of their own. The syllabus here is laser guided to chosen career and so they do not have to endure school studying eighteen subjects that are mostly not relevant to their career pursuits. Intense laboratory experiments, multiple mode of teaching (visual, interactive and computer based) and practical projects set the schedule and entire school apart from their experience here.

In Nigeria, we shared common fence with the school my kids attended,and it was typical in the morning for them (and indeed all schools), to have assembly in the morning. There, they are subjected to almost an hour of praise worship, prayers and a little sermon. I do not have issues with that, but simply feel that, that aspect of training is directly the purview of parents and schools should just concentrate on the core responsibilities of bringing our kids up academically. And America got that right first time. The indoctrination in their school is tailored towards positive attitude and self belief, contrary to our over dependence on everything and anything but ourselves.

Unlike us, they have both corporately and individually been able to conquer some issues under pride and prejudices. Before you gasp, racism to me is a function of ignorance on their part, and a ready made excuse for our inability to meet up with the rest of the world. These folks have comprehensive provisions and elaborate programs for immigrants. Large chunk of their budget is used in funding altruistic projects that benefit the rest of the world, including antagonistic nations that often treat them with contempt. While we curse our perceived enemies, they go about their business,not praying, but blessing their enemies! God BLESS America.