Surviving A Small Town In America : Tips From a Ghanaian Exchange Student
“Do you have a pet lion” “Yeah I do. I call him Simba” “Wow that’s so cool. Do you live on trees” “Mmmhm. I even take the elevator when I am going up”.
Ordinarily, the answer to the first question should have been a WTF followed by a fit of anger. But as exchange students, we were taught to expect such questions and more. It was imbibed into us that we were cultural ambassadors. And as ambassadors, albeit without the diplomatic immunity, we had to carry ourselves around with the decency that came with that tag.
Where I come from, the dream of most people is to see America. Having grown up watching Hollywood movies, we were attracted to the bright lights of skyscrapers and the French fries of McDonalds. So when I was informed that I was going to be an exchange student on the YES Program and would live in the U.S. for one year, I was thrilled with joy at the prospect of living that life. (Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES) is a State Department-sponsored program for high school students from around the world. ) My prayer was to end up with a host family in either New York or Los Angeles. Alas, it was in the small town of Berryville, Virginia.
Actually, I was not even in a town. I was about 5 miles away from downtown Berryville, which by the way is about a 30-second drive long. I was hosted where the fields were green with grazing cows. Where the internet connection was poor and the nearest neighbor was sometimes a 10-minute walk away. All this excitement about going to America only to live in a house where you cannot even stream YouTube videos. Ah! I exclaimed, in a fashion a frustrated Ghanaian does.
A couple of months into my stay, my annoyance with small-town America began fading away. I was making friends at school, teachers took an interest in my academic progress, and the basketball coach was generous enough to get me a spot on the team even though my pull up jumpers and in-and-out dribbles were horrible. Oh and yes, the curious Americans who genuinely knew little to nothing about Ghana kept asking their questions. Silly as they might have sounded, the questions were well intended and all I could do was to breathe in and answer each one of them.
Was being black in small town America always rosy? Of course not. There were snide remarks passed here and there at certain times which were enough to rile a person up. Maybe I should have been riled up. Especially when this one shop attendant singled me out from a group for extra attention. At the time, I was not aware that was what was happening but after having been told, I realized how subtle racism worked. But on the whole, being black in small town America was a learning experience. It was about life-long friendships and family bonds which exist till date. It was about creating the prom experience I learned about watching Hollywood movies, in small town America.
Here are a few tips for black students planning to study in the Untied States.
1)Revise Your Expectations
If you are a black student (especially if you are from Africa) on your way to the USA , my first advice to you would be to revise your expectations. America is not all skyscrapers and McDonalds. Chances are that you might find yourself in rural or little town America where locals fight against McDonalds opening up shop.
2)Realities of Race Relations
Regardless of which US media outlet you followed the most before leaving home, know that the realities of racial relations can only be told once you actually live it. Before leaving home, my expectation of White Americans who identified as Republicans was stereotypical. I quickly realized that the notion I was holding on to was not accurate.
3) Culture Shock
Coming from Africa, you will also be confronted with a cultural shock in so many aspects of your everyday life. There is no preparing for it. Keep an open mind to everything. Food, relationships, music, experiences, everything! Just embrace it all.
4)Spending Habits
Do not fall into the habit of comparing prices of things in America with where you come from. You will not spend a penny if you do that because everything will seem too expensive!
Shafic Kwabena Osman, Accra , Ghana
Follow Shafic On IG : @shafic_osman
