Cultural Electrocution

I apologize for taking so long to write. My original goal was to write 2 posts per week. That way, things would still be fresh in my mind and my posts wouldn’t be too long. I will stick to this in the future.

I am having a lot of fun. My classes are laid back. The earliest class I have is 3pm. I’ve been a lot more social than I am at home. I’ve been meeting lots of new people, and actually going outside or to dinner to talk to people, instead of staying in my room all day. I’m learning a lot about myself, and America. I’m so blessed and fortunate to have this experience. It is life changing.

I have to admit that I did not like it here at first. The main problem was that it was not America. You have to remember that this is my first time travelling out of the country, so the culture shock, or cultural electrocution, was amplified.

In a lot of situations I went through, I had certain expectations. If I buy a four-hole binder at Carrefour, I expect there to be a four-hole binder at CARREFOUR! If I make an appointment to get waxed, why would the salon cancel my appointment because they ran out of wax? In America that would NEVER happen, and if it did, I wouldn’t go back to that salon.

But this is UAE, not the US. So I have to change my attitude and expectations while here. I’m at the point now where I just expect the worst, that way I will not be disappointed when I don’t get what I want. Otherwise, I’d be very sad and just want to go back home.

I am trying not to sound too negative. I read a blog written by another UC student that was so negative that it seemed like there were no positive things in Dubai. Dubai is not THAT bad. I would still like to live here for a couple of years then return to America. If I made the same amount of money here as I would back home would I still want to work here? No. That’s how they attract Westerners. In order for Westerners to give up their freedoms they’re accustomed to, they have to pay them more than they would earn back home.

That brings me to another topic: FREEDOM.

First of all, out of all the places in the Middle East I am glad I chose Dubai, and out of all the Universities in Dubai, I’m glad I chose AUD. Otherwise, the culture shock I would have experienced would have been so great, that I would have just wanted to go home.

I keep hearing this word here “liberal”. But I do not see liberty. I see constraints, and rules. When I’m at school I feel like I’m the president’s daughter. There are gates at each entrance of the school, and you must be a teacher or a student to get in. The dorms are not coed, and girls cannot go into boy dorms. Also, dorm visitors cannot stay past 11 p.m. If you’re under 24 (who isn’t?), parents must sign a curfew form. The default curfew is 12 am.

Alcohol is not allowed on campus, and you can get kicked out for consuming alcohol or drugs. I actually like this part of the rules. It makes the dorms cleaner and safer.

Again, my mistake is comparing this dorm in the Middle East to a dorm in America. In America, my parent only had to sign to let me live in the dorm because I was under 18. After that, I was on my own. No curfew, and guests could spend the night for up to 7 days.

The good thing is, this is not my country. I have no ties to it, no family here. If I want freedom, all I have to do is go back to America.