As my study abroad experience is two weeks away from me it is a good time to prepare mentally for the whole new culture and reflect on the culture here in the U.S.
I am originally not from the U.S. and when I moved here the American culture was a big new experience for me. American culture is very unique and interesting largely due to people migrating to the U.S. from all over the world and bringing their behaviors, beliefs, habits, attitudes, and values with them. Over the years these cultural identities mixed together into one big melting pot that takes the best from every culture. This is similar to how Roman Empire was growing both culturally and territorially. Romans were taking the best from the customs and traditions of people they conquered and adapting it for their use, thus creating one of the most powerful empires in history.
One of the U.S. cultural aspects that is easily noticeable is the individualism. People in the U.S. value their independence a lot and pursue personal fulfillment. People put a lot of their time on achieving personal goals and success. Individual thinking dominates over group thinking. Individualism influences how people look at and use their time. In America “time is money”, therefore people focus on getting the most out of every minute and do not like to waste their time for not getting anything.
Another cultural aspects are the assertiveness and directness in communication of American people. I like these aspects a lot because I also tend to be direct and assertive. All of the above aspects are connected: People are highly individualistic, focusing a lot on personal success, therefore they value their time a lot, therefore they are straight to the point in communicating with others. This explains why Americans are successful at doing business.
For every action there is reaction, so each cultural aspect has its strong and weak sides. Some people from other countries admire and some dislike the culture that America exports abroad through its pop culture, mass media, music, cinematography and etc. I personally look the same at some aspects and have different view on others. For example, I mentioned above that I like assertiveness and directness of Americans and tend to be similar, but I look different at my time, for me “time is not money”.
I am very excited to experience new culture there in London. This megapolis is another melting pot of global culture and I want to spend some time in it to compare it to other cultures that I know of. One thing I am sure of is that it will expand my world outlook and make me more knowledgeable in life.