Things that didn't make it into my book -Part 2
This is the final part of this installment. If you missed the first part, go here. https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Winter and Vaseline- What words can express the bitter cold of winter? How do I explain to people what winter feels like for the first time? Cold that seems to penetrate your bones in spite of how many layers you wear. Cold that makes you want to stay indoors FOREVER. Cold that makes you throw away all thoughts of fashion and walk around like the Michelin Man. The only thing that warmed my skin in the winter was good old Vaseline. I made sure I was always stocked. Now, I don’t use Vaseline anymore.
Telemarketers- When I first arrived, I thought that when telemarketers called, you had to listen to them and answer all their questions until they were ready to go. Ha, that didn’t last long.
Treatment of people with disabilities- It was amazing to see that businesses and workplaces were modified to accommodate people with disabilities and that in fact, IT WAS THE LAW. They were treated as people first and not handicapped people. Their disabilities didn’t define who they were and they didn’t need your pity.
Beautiful homes with no gates- Coming from a society where houses had security guards, gates and windows barred to prevent thieves, seeing all the beautiful, expensive homes with no gates was an eye opener. America did not have thieves!
Male Hairdressers- I was familiar with men working in barbershops. I was not familiar with men working in women’s hair salons, washing and blow drying hair and shaping eyebrows. It was not something I knew to be a manly role but my thoughts have changed since then.
Cougars- It was not common to see cougars in Nigeria. 99.99% of men married younger, in some cases, significantly younger women. Women married men they could look up to and/or respect, men that could provide for them or impress them. I was surprised to see women who deliberately dated younger men.
Holidays and Vacation time- America had fewer observed holidays than Nigeria. We observed both Christian and Muslim holidays and if the holiday fell on a Friday, you also got the Monday off. In addition, vacation time was very generous; some people even got a couple of months off. In America, you usually started with 2 weeks of vacation time a year.
Openness of Americans- Americans were very open. If you asked them their age, they told you without hesitation. They told you if they were dating someone, getting a divorce, their medical problems and if their kids were misbehaving. Nothing was out of bounds. Ask a Nigerian parent to tell you their age and you would get slapped.
Going dutch on a date- The concept of dutch did not exist when I was growing up. It was the guy’s responsibility to pay for a date and it was accepted. Guys looked to provide for a woman, not the other way around.
And ofcourse the way Americans spoke.- I did not realize until I came to America, that American English differed in some ways from British English. I remember hearing words or phrases which made my ear sting and made me want to shout, “THAT IS NOT GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT!!!”. Statements like “Some idiot” or “Get your ass beat”, "He cute", made me want to scream!!!!. However, I have accepted it all. In case you are interested, the correct statements are "An idiot or The idiot", "Get your ass beaten" and "He is cute".
In summation, coming from a society with a conservative background and living in a society that was more liberal was a huge culture shock. It inspired a lot of what I wrote about in Shifting Allegiances.
To purchase my book, go here:http://www.amazon.com/Shifting-Allegi...
Winter and Vaseline- What words can express the bitter cold of winter? How do I explain to people what winter feels like for the first time? Cold that seems to penetrate your bones in spite of how many layers you wear. Cold that makes you want to stay indoors FOREVER. Cold that makes you throw away all thoughts of fashion and walk around like the Michelin Man. The only thing that warmed my skin in the winter was good old Vaseline. I made sure I was always stocked. Now, I don’t use Vaseline anymore.
Telemarketers- When I first arrived, I thought that when telemarketers called, you had to listen to them and answer all their questions until they were ready to go. Ha, that didn’t last long.
Treatment of people with disabilities- It was amazing to see that businesses and workplaces were modified to accommodate people with disabilities and that in fact, IT WAS THE LAW. They were treated as people first and not handicapped people. Their disabilities didn’t define who they were and they didn’t need your pity.
Beautiful homes with no gates- Coming from a society where houses had security guards, gates and windows barred to prevent thieves, seeing all the beautiful, expensive homes with no gates was an eye opener. America did not have thieves!
Male Hairdressers- I was familiar with men working in barbershops. I was not familiar with men working in women’s hair salons, washing and blow drying hair and shaping eyebrows. It was not something I knew to be a manly role but my thoughts have changed since then.
Cougars- It was not common to see cougars in Nigeria. 99.99% of men married younger, in some cases, significantly younger women. Women married men they could look up to and/or respect, men that could provide for them or impress them. I was surprised to see women who deliberately dated younger men.
Holidays and Vacation time- America had fewer observed holidays than Nigeria. We observed both Christian and Muslim holidays and if the holiday fell on a Friday, you also got the Monday off. In addition, vacation time was very generous; some people even got a couple of months off. In America, you usually started with 2 weeks of vacation time a year.
Openness of Americans- Americans were very open. If you asked them their age, they told you without hesitation. They told you if they were dating someone, getting a divorce, their medical problems and if their kids were misbehaving. Nothing was out of bounds. Ask a Nigerian parent to tell you their age and you would get slapped.
Going dutch on a date- The concept of dutch did not exist when I was growing up. It was the guy’s responsibility to pay for a date and it was accepted. Guys looked to provide for a woman, not the other way around.
And ofcourse the way Americans spoke.- I did not realize until I came to America, that American English differed in some ways from British English. I remember hearing words or phrases which made my ear sting and made me want to shout, “THAT IS NOT GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT!!!”. Statements like “Some idiot” or “Get your ass beat”, "He cute", made me want to scream!!!!. However, I have accepted it all. In case you are interested, the correct statements are "An idiot or The idiot", "Get your ass beaten" and "He is cute".
In summation, coming from a society with a conservative background and living in a society that was more liberal was a huge culture shock. It inspired a lot of what I wrote about in Shifting Allegiances.
To purchase my book, go here:http://www.amazon.com/Shifting-Allegi...
No comments have been added yet.
