Newcomers share insights on American culture

If you had recently moved to Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Richfield, or Edina from another country, where would you go to learn to speak and read English?

For almost every newcomer to the United States, literacy in English is crucial for achieving the better life they sought by coming here, particularly for finding employment.

One school that many of these folks have sought out is Metro South Adult Basic Education.

Operated by the public school districts of Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Richfield, and Edina, Metro South offers adults a wide range of opportunities. These include acquiring fundamental skills in English and math, pursuing a GED diploma, and preparing for career or college entrance tests. It has multiple locations, including one on the campus of Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie.

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All of the classes are well-attended and staffed by qualified instructors. Volunteers also assist students in completing assignments and, in the case of English, help with pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling.

Recently, an English instructor at the Eden Prairie campus (Hennepin Technical College) assigned his students the task of writing about their experience of American culture compared to living in their home countries.

The students’ writings covered a wide range of topics, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of their home countries, which included Ukraine, Venezuela, Costa Rica, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Korea, and Mexico.

Some students were willing to share their responses with Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) readers.

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Sofia, from Ukraine:

The American smile

Sofia identified what she sees as differences in Americans’ and Ukrainians’ personalities. “First is the famous American smile,” she said. “Here people are more positive and they are more open to share their emotions. I think Americans are mostly optimistic and have a positive view of life. In Ukraine, people are open only with friends or with family. Rarely can you see a friendly smile on the street.”

Americans get along better

“Ukrainian people often are categorical and irascible,” Sofia said. “It’s hard for them to have a dialogue with an opponent and listen to the opinion of another person. They don’t have patience and are always interrupting. In American people, I see more respect for the other person.”

Bernardo, from Venezuela:

Some observations from the students focused on meals and holiday celebrations.  

Arepas for breakfast 

“In the U.S.,” Bernardo said, “breakfast consists of either cereal or eggs, pancakes, waffles or bagels with cream cheese.”

He said, “In Venezuela, I usually eat a breakfast of arepas (muffins made from corn maize) with ham, cheese and eggs with a cup of coffee or a latte. We have more options, like empanadas – which has ground beef, cheese, ham and other ingredients; also tequenos, which have ground beef, ham, cheese and mashed potato.”  

Parties and holidays

“In Venezuela, parties usually end the next day after sunrise,” Bernardo said. He has noticed that such experiences are less common in the U.S. However, Christmas and New Year’s Day are significant holidays in Venezuela, just like in America.

“Here,” he said, “people celebrate with traditional foods such as turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce.” In Venezuela, the traditional food is pan de jamón, bread baked with ham, bacon, olives and raisins.

Maria, from Venezuela:

Like Bernardo, Maria made some observations about breakfast and celebrations. 

“In America, people eat more quickly,” she said. “They eat more bread with peanut butter or jam, sometimes with a piece of bacon, with coffee or tea.” She added, “in Venezuela, people take more time for breakfast. They eat more arepas with cheese, ham and scrambled eggs. Of course, you can never miss coffee!”

Celebrations

“In Venezuela, we celebrate the carnivals in the whole country for five days,” Maria said. “You can enjoy masks, floats, makeup, parties and candies.” She said, “In the United States, one very important day is Thanksgiving Day. The family meets to give thanks. This day is more important than Christmas and even more important than carnivals.”  

Greeting one another

When it comes to greeting, Maria said, “In Venezuela people are more humorous, informal and mischievous. In the United States, people are more formal, serious and careful.”

Roberto, from Costa Rica:

Patriotism and politics

“Amercans love the Army and have a lot of memories of the people that fell in wars,” Roberto said. “In my country, we haven’t had an army since 1949. Little is mentioned in my country about matters of war. We love our country.”

Taxes

“In the U.S., people pay taxes because they have trust in the system, and they expect to get back improvements from the rulers,” Roberto said. “In Costa Rica, many do not pay taxes because they don’t trust the politicians. We know that they steal the money and the people don’t get back anything.”

Celebrating who we are

One student wrote, “it’s interesting and mysterious to know other cultures and traditions. That way we are able to celebrate and share them as well as to show who we are. The outcome is accepting and respecting of our equalities and differences.”  

Despite noting many differences, students in the English literacy class from other countries overwhelmingly expressed their happiness about living in the United States and their determination to succeed in building a life for themselves here in Minnesota.