Informal interview with immigrant from kenya Essay

Informal interview with immigrant from kenya - Essay Example When you came to USA, did you speak English? Response: The Americans and the people of my culture behave in quite different ways. For instance, in greetings, the people of my culture shake hands warmly and heartily; in American culture, however, although people shake hands in greetings, the shaking of the hands is not done in a warm and cheerful manner. Also, according to my culture, public expression of romantic feelings is discouraged; in fact, according to my culture, it sounds a bit odd to tell your lover publicly that you love her. For that reason therefore, dating in my culture is quite different from dating in the American culture- in my culture, rarely do the dating couple express their romantic feelings in public as is the case in American culture. Again, in socializing, the people of culture behave quite differently from the American people. This is because the people of my culture consider the community to be more important than the individual, for that reason, therefore, the people of my culture are quite united as a community, unlike the American people who are individualistic and who regard the individual to be more important than the community/society. Answer: There are two main situations in which I felt completely misunderstood when I arrived to America. In the first situation, on the first day of my arrival, I extended my hand in greetings to all the people I interacted with at the airport. To my surprise, many of the people I extended hands to in greetings looked at me suspiciously and they did not shake my hands; I really felt misunderstood by these people and ever since I wait for the people to first extend their hands in greetings before I extend my hand and shake them in greetings. In the second incident, on my second week in America, I held my friend’s hand, my compatriot Mr. Eric Odhiambo, as we were walking along the road; to our surprise, the people looked at us suspiciously. I later learnt that the people who looked at us