<p>How American culture differs from Indian culture and how an Indian can adjust to it? I would like to know, the most typical American habits, their friendliness, innocence etc, etc.</p>
<p>Also, how an Indian (especially an undergraduate student) is treated in the US. I would also like to know the list of the 'top' colleges where racism (against Indians) is less.</p>
<p>Kindly reply me.</p>
<p>I have not visited India or had close friends from India, so I am not the best person to answer this. But I perceive India as a family-oriented culture, like many others across the globe. American culture tends to be more individualistic. In general, Americans value independence.</p>
<p>I don’t think you need to worry a lot about prejudice against people from India. It would be difficult to list “top colleges where racism against Indians is less”. In any college or university, you might encounter a small number of people who are prejudiced, but I doubt it will be a serious problem.</p>
<p>Hopefully someone with more direct experience than me will be able to better answer your question.</p>
<p>Few college towns or students are prejudiced against Indians. These tend to be the most liberal/tolerant places in the US so you shouldn’t worry about that.
As for “differences with Indian culture”, it’s very hard to answer. First, Punjab and Tamil nadu are very different. Second, New York City would be very different from Boise which would be very different from Natchez and San Francisco.
There are hundreds of thousands of Indian undergraduates in the US and they adapt, often quite well.
One thing that’s always difficult is food - you may want to bring some spices with you depending on the cafeteria’s variety. Some cafeterias may not have any spiced food. Also, if you’re vegetarian or can’t eat beef or pork, you must check what the offerings are.
To ease that adaptation, you may prefer a college that has a special orientation over several days for international students (I was very impressed with Hendrix’s for example). You must be ready to question yourself and let go of some misconceptions, to learn and grow, look at the differences and see where they come from. Some things will be better in the US, some things will be better in India, and some things will just come from a different place with different justifications and will just remain “two ways to do the same thing”. You may want to contact the colleges that interest you and ask them if they can put you in contact with an Indian international student.</p>
<p>Most universities with a sizable number of Indian students will have an Indian Student Association. These organizations not only sponsor social and cultural events, but also help new students from their home countries to adapt and make a smooth transition to the U.S. If there is an Indian Student Association at the universities you are considering, this probably will be the one of the best sources of information for the questions you might have about cultural differences and prejudices students might have encountered. On university websites, you might find a listing of student organizations, including the various international student associations along with their email addresses. You could contact those at the universities that interest you. (Depending on location, there are many Indian Americans, so I tend to think you will not encounter any significant prejudice, particularly in a university environment.)</p>
<p>Also, many universities with a sizable number of international students often sponsor some sort of program to pair up international students with a host family or with American students to aid this transition. These programs offer some social events and the host families/students are a good source of advice regarding matters of daily life in the US, e.g., establishing a bank account, American customs/traditions, etc. </p>
<p>My daughter is very active in the international student organizations at her university, particularly with the Indian students. She notes that there is an extensive informal network among the Indian students that helps newly-arrived students make a smooth transition. According to her, to some degree, the older students will mentor or guide the younger students as to their social behavior. Perhaps, this is a cultural feature, as it seemed somewhat to be a norm or expectation that the younger students respect and adhere to the advice of the older students. This is one perceived cultural difference. An American student might follow his peer group, or value the advice of an older student, based on is perceived merits, but there would be no sense of obligation or expectation to adhere to this advice. Another difference she noted is that Indian students often understand comments in a more literal way, and have some difficulty distinguishing when an American uses language in a sarcastic or ironic way, even when the Indian student speaks and understands formal English very well. This is possibly just a matter of becoming more familiar with idiomatic American English, both in content and tone. Still another difference she noted is in the obligations of friendships. Among the Indian students, friendships have more obligations than among Americans. An Indian student might call his fellow Indian student to pick him up at the airport early in the morning, and there would be some obligation to help his friend. An American might hesitate to impose on his friend, and his friend could decline this request if it was too much of an imposition. These “obligations” of friendship extend to sharing cars, sharing cooking and meals, lending money, etc. While an American might do a favor for a friend or go out of his way to help without any expectation of reciprocity, his friend might feel that he would “owe” him a favor in return sometime, whether or not he actually reciprocated. I’m probably not describing these differences very well, but, in general, as another poster indicated, American culture is much more individualistic and less group-oriented. </p>
<p>And then, there is “American time” and “Indian time”. My daughter describes that when she is participating in a cultural event with her Indian friends, a rehearsal or meeting might be scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Indian students might start to show up at any time from 7:45 until 8:30 p.m. While Americans are not as fastidious about time as the Germans, the Indians tend to adhere to a much looser notion of time.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. Also, could any one tell me about the most typical American’s habits.
And also, the habits that Americans don’t consider bad unlike the Indians?</p>
<p>Answering a question about “most typical habits” is difficult for such an individualistic society.
Americans like to drink weak coffee in cups as they walk. Americans like to shower at least once a day and wash their hair once a day too but sometimes shower twice. Americans think each day should be productive, should have goals that need to be met. At the same time, you’ll find that many Americans don’t follow these generalizations some of the time, either by choice or constraint… and these may not turn out to be that different from your own habits. In addition, there are superficial differences (things people do) and there are deep differences (that are difficult to see but are extremely important). You need to be there and analyze to get a sense of both.</p>
<p>You may want to read Culture Smart: India, since it highlights the major differences between Indian and American cultures for Americans. A similar book for Indians may exist actually.
Then you might want to read Habits of the Heart by Robert Bellah (2007 ed), and I’m sure people here can refer you to books that will answer your question in-depth.</p>
<p>I heard from most of the students, that Americans mostly drink beer/alcohol! Am I right? Don’t consider me wrongly, i am shocked UG students drink beer?</p>
<p>Countries where the drinking age is lower than America’s have students the same age drinking as well. Not all or most American young adults drink.</p>
<p>Yes beer is not negatively seen (in some countries it’s seen as an “improper” drink) and it’s cheap, so many American undergraduates think it’s “cool” to get “drunk” and use beer for that (yes, they drink very bad beer, and a LOT of it.) Some also drink very, very bad vodka. There are games associated with drinking, and dessert-looking alcohol things called “jello shots”. However it’s illegal to drink until age 21.
Many American parents don’t serve alcohol to their children, even with a fancy meal. So American 18 year olds discover it in college and act like 13 year olds in many other cultures. Some immature undergraduates continue with this behavior until they graduate, others realize that there are other ways to have fun than to drink lots of cheap beer.
If alcohol is a problem for you, don’t apply to schools where the social life revolves around the “Greek” system (fraternities) or that are known as “party schools”, and you may want to look at “dry campuses” (campuses where students can’t officially consume alcohol). No matter what, even on large campuses, you will find students who “don’t drink” (who don’t consume alcohol).</p>
<p>Here’s a timely news article:
[The</a> Most Surprising Things About America, According To An Indian International Student | Business Insider Australia](<a href=“http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-weirdest-things-about-america-2013-8]The”>http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-weirdest-things-about-america-2013-8)
</p>
<p>come on. people in other country smoke weeds, yabas and you got problem with alcohol? :D</p>
<p>Many states are going smoke-free in and near public areas.</p>
<p>Smoking tobacco products is not considered politically correct.</p>