Cultural shock?

As most of you already know, I am an exchange student from Georgia. Not the state, but the republic of Georgia and yes it is independent, and no, cars are not pulled by horses. By the way Georgia is one of the oldest countries in the world; its history counts more than 22,000 years. I am sure it is obvious to you that we, Georgians have a great culture that we inherited from our ancestors, from parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Georgia is not a really huge country, we have population over 4.5 million. Its capital is called Tbilisi with the population of almost 2 million. It’s a big city. River Mtkvari divides Tbilisi in to two parts, so we have lot of bridges that connect one part of city to another. Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century AD by Vakhtang Gorgasali, the Georgian King of Kartli (Iberia), and made into a capital in the 6th century. Tbilisi is a significant industrial, social, and cultural center. The city is also known as an important transit route for global energy and trade projects. Georgia is located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and lying along the historic Silk Road routes, that’s why Georgia has always been the point of contention between huge empires. The main religion is Christianity; more than 80% of population is orthodox Christian. Georgia has been a Christian country since the 4^th century. Georgia can not show off with high tech utilities, machines or huge factories that produce all kinds of electric technologies, but we have pride; pride of being one of the oldest countries in the world. We are proud that we, Georgians are a Christian people. We kept Christianity for more than 18 centuries. Our ancestors shed their blood in order to protect the religion and the unity of our land. Another thing that makes me proud is that we have hundreds of thousands of saints; people who died because of religion and their people. Every time I answered the question “Where are you from”, I would always get back, “oh so you guys are part of Russia and you guys speak Russian over there yeah?” That would always make me kind of   disappointed and also angry too. Maybe you ask why that is, why is that I do not like Russians, as they are my neighbors. I agree they are our neighbors, our friendship is known from the very beginning of the Georgian history, but couple years ago they made an unforgivable mistake, they invaded Georgian cities. I am saying I do not hate them, but I do not love them either. Everyone makes mistakes. By the way, we learn from our mistakes, but I think if you make one, you should be able to recognize it and apologize; this is the thing that Russians are missing. I am not trying to humiliate Russian people; I just feel the same way as all Georgians do. But I am hoping that in the near future everything will change and our friendship will still reestablish itself.

It was August 12^th, 2009 when I left for US, the country of my dreams. I was so excited. I remember that night, all my friends and family members were in the airport; hugs, kisses and tears. It was hard to leave them. I got in the plane with my other friends who are also exchange students in the USA. We took off, but all my heart was still in the airport with my family members. After 13 hours of exhausting flight my uncomfortable flight came to an end. At last I landed, the first time my feet touched US ground, I was so happy despite of all I had to go through. Everything felt so different, people, nature, even air was different. My host dad met me in the airport with a friendly handshake and a hug, and made me feel that I was welcomed. I forgot about the weariness. For the first couple days I was staying in Mitchell in a dorm with other exchange students. I met kids from almost every country; it was a great experience, and we were all so excited. Then I had to leave them and move to Prineville, in the family, which would host me the whole year. I liked them so much. I felt and still feel like they are part of my family. Then I went to school and I loved it; everybody was so friendly. I made lots of friends, met other exchange students. Now after 8 months of living here I feel like I am at home.

I learnd a lot about the lifestyle of the American people. They are very hospitable, friendly and very helpful. They are always ready to find you way out from the hard situation. They respect other people’s ideas, and share opinions. The thing that provokes excitement is that they respect laws. They do their best to subordinate and also enforce the laws. As we all know the US is popular with its culture, their cultural icons are: Apple pie, baseball and the American flag.

Another great thing that makes USA one of the best is Hollywood. Compared to Georgians US cinematography is more developed. There are around 600 movies made in the United States each year. In Georgia this number is 10 times less. We are not really popular and into making movies, but once in a while we make couple interesting films.

Believe or not Georgia and the US are pretty much similar, people’s personalities are pretty much the same. They dress the same way. The only difference is that Georgians have different lifestyle. We like to celebrate big holidays and vacations, so it’s obvious that we have lots of holidays. When I said that almost everybody gets about 2 month brake from their work in summer everybody was looking at me with wide open eyes, they could not believe that-but it is true. Both Georgians and Americans are hard working people; they both appreciate other people’s time and opinions. I think that the main difference is a language. Also the lifestyles of teenagers differ too. We Georgians like to hang out more and “party”, spend our free time with friends, and we do not do so many sports as Americans do.

To conclude, there are lots of things that these two countries have in common, but there are some that are totally different. I can proudly say that in both places I feel at home, and I feel safe. Now I have already been here for a long time and I miss my family, friends and relatives, but I am sure that when I go back I will absolutely miss US, especially my host parents, high school friends and teachers; people who are doing their best to help my English improve and make me feel comfortable.