When I first left Taiwan, my friends told me "it is going to be such a difficult trip for you. You are going to be living in a completely new environment, and you need to relearn everything all over again.". I did not realize how true that statement was until I had arrived here in Houston and lived for a couple of months in Houston. I remembered someone mentioned the phrase "cultural shock" to me when I first arrived in Houston, but it was of no importance for me because I knew I would be returning back to Taiwan in a year. To me, coming to Houston to learn English was just a passing point to me, and I needed not pay too much attention to the "cultures" around me. How hard could it be? All I needed to do was to come to Houston and studied for a year? However, it has only been two months since I have arrived in Houston, and I must admit that I was very wrong in my initial perception. Cultural differences would indeed proven to be a determining factor in how well I adopt to this city.
From the moment I got off the plane, cultural differences were everywhere. It was prevalent in how my friends here in Houston treated me, it was obvious in how my surroundings were so different from Taiwan, and it was apparent in my inability to interact with others efficiently using my poor English skills. However, I have never realized that the single most shocking event would take place in my dorm at Moody Tower. .
When I was first assigned a room, I thought I would be able to handle the situation of living together with a total stranger well because I had previous experience dealing with dormitory life. However, I did not expect to experience such a "different" dormitory life. .
I was assigned to share a room in Moody Tower with a girl that came from Florida. She seemed to be a very nice person to live with when I first met her. She was friendly to me, and she was very polite. In one incidence, she even offered that she would be willing to take me and show me around the school.