My Trip to the United States: A Life Changing Experience - Essay Example

My Trip to the United s: A Life Changing Experience Travelling has been my passion ever sinceI was a child. Being raised up in Belgium I belong to the French-speaking community and had little exposure to other languages or culture for that matter. Our own culture is so rich that we hardly get a chance to mingle with the others. Due to lack of any bilingual university I concentrated on French and learnt to appreciate our fine arts and folklore. The idea of exploring beyond the boundaries started appealing to me when I was in high school and realized how much more there was to learn about the world.

I shared my trepidations with my family and surprisingly got very much encouraged. We decided to go to the United States as our upcoming vacation spot. My experience in this new country was a new one and there were different challenges that I had to face being a French-speaker. United States is no doubt a mega-state with so much variety in education and culture that I did not know where to start with! My trip to the United States started off with crossing the North Atlantic Ocean. It felt like travelling ahead of time and yet we were entering a different time zone.

I had always wanted to see ‘The Statue of Liberty’ because it was one thing I had known about the Americans; that it believed in the freedom of speech and actions. Being a multicultural society, I did not feel alienated towards the place. As I stepped on the American soil my very first thought was, ‘How would I understand what people are talking about?’ Carrying a dictionary with you as a separate physical body is not as efficient as knowing and understanding the language you want to communicate with someone.

Hence, I decided to take the risk of comprehending without its aid, though failing many times. But on the whole, acquiring a second language is congenial. You just need to have a mind-set to learn a new language. French are often imitated for having a heavy accent when they attempt to speak in English. Since not all French speakers speak alike, I noticed a contoured face of the English speakers when I attempted to speak to them regarding lexis. I have come to realize that it is not my fault how I comprehend other languages like English.

I personally had a problem comprehending their understanding of my language as well! What really changed my attitude towards life during this trip was the openness of the environment and the readiness to learn something new all the time. I came to realize that time is a moving at a fast pace, racing alongside humans. The more determined you are the better equipped you become to win the race. Spending time in the United States was not entirely about learning a new language but also appreciating its form of art, which opens the doors for real life experiences.

It is a developed country, although living away from one’s own hometown is not a very conspicuous episode of one’s life. From as many places I visited in the United States, I observed that it is a lively consign all day and all night long. There is a sense of individuality prevailing in the environment and everybody’s say is respected and appreciated. This symbolizes the citizen’s strength and courage to face any sort of hardship that comes their way. With regard to this nature of the people of the United States, I interacted with many people over there and had a pragmatic sense of closeness towards them because personally speaking they are the most affectionate people I ever met.

They applauded any improvement I showed towards understanding their culture and language. They also have a unique way of welcoming you to a new place which attracts many tourists and immigrants towards the nation. On the whole, my experience of visiting a new place as this one was fantabulous. My visit to the United States was truly a life changing experience. It was an experience that taught me of a different culture and language. I met and saw people coming from different countries and hence, I was able to analyze and see people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

My communication skills improved with time and the experience taught me of how to get acquainted to a new place. I took up the challenge of learning English language as well. When I went back, I took with myself many memories and important experiences that I would cherish for the rest of my life.