Studying Abroad

The day, I boarded a plane without my mother or father, sisters and brothers arriving at a place I've never been to, but have heard so much about. I started to learn more about the culture and how it is evaluated in this new place. I may be on a mission to try all of the good food in Chicago and see the attractions the city has to offer. One thing is certain, that I will not be bored. The main reason Saudi or foreign students travel to the U.S. is to advance their education and career opportunities allowing them to choose from many career options, which are not be available in their home country.

Traveling abroad to advance my education is scary, but has a lot of rewarding benefits. Although at the beginning I got homesick and culture shocked. On the other hand I am excited to have an educational opportunity in the U.S. In Saudi Arabia there are an unequal distribution of wealth, some live wealthy, other people live in poverty. While there are jobs available in the Middle East, certain issues makes finding a stable job difficult. Sometimes it is difficult, especially men to secure education in a different fields. This limits the type of job he can have. However, More than 40 percent of women job seekers in Saudi remain with no jobs because of some customs that limit their choice. After all coming to the U.S and being allowed to study many different fields, a person can find their true passion and make a future of it.

Traveling abroad allowed me to experience a life in a lot of different ways. Learning a new language and understanding a new culture in this new place has been very good. On the other hand, it's not only I have shared American culture but I have had the opportunity to meet so many nice people and share stories of my country with them. As an illustration, I remember when I lived with home stay and it was a great experience to know more about the American culture and that the father and the mother were very nice people and when I called my parents they asked me how my family is. Actually, I was delighted because I thought American people are racial and maybe I will get in trouble with them if I missed something about their cultures. One the another aspect with them by sharing my culture, when I invited Saudi guys and we great each other by our own language she was observing us and later she asked me how we can say "How are you "in Arabic. When I told her the greeting in Arabic and a day when I came back from the school and met her she said," Salaam" a greet in Arabic and I was happy and told her it is incredible to say it, so in short, as I share American culture it's a great chance also to tell them much about our culture. In addition, they always asked me about traditional food and how we can prepare it and I directly told them the basic dishes we have. In my view point, people who think they will face problems with cultures here it's not a true. On the