by Yanichka Ariunbold, assistant editor

Seniors Dania Barrenechea Vela and Aranza Barrenechea Pena, cousins who moved to the United States from Mexico two and a half years ago, gathered to discuss their culture and experience in America with The Roar and fellow, newer international students — Japanese exchange student junior Chihiro Takagi, Ukrainian foreign exchange student junior Valeriya Reva and Chinese international student freshman Wendy Wen.

ROAR: How is Consol different from the schools in your home country?

VR: Consol is really different. In Ukraine, we have to learn everything. We get a new schedule everyday. I mean, you can choose the direction — more humanities, history, oral, government classes. Or you can choose physics, math, and stuff like that. And we don’t have elementary and middle and high school — all schools are just in one building. “High school” just means grade. And we don’t have lunch. Our breaks are 15 to 20 minutes–

DBV: Oh yeah, we have the same in Mexico! We have two or three classes, five to ten minute break, another three classes, 30 minute break, three classes, and you would just leave–

VR: If you don’t finish your sandwich, you can just finish it next break. You can’t eat food in class, put elbows on the table, nothing. And we usually have to wear a uniform, so just imagine me in a uniform.

CT: In Japan, too! We wear a skirt and blazer, with a ribbon and tie.

WW: Wow, Japanese uniforms are really pretty.

CT: In Japan, we all have our own classes, so we don’t move, the teachers move. Also, high school is not required. So to go to high school, we have to take a big exam. So everyone wants to go to public school because it’s cheaper. But if you fail the public school test, we can still go to private school, but it’s really expensive.

WW: Yeah, in China, the best schools are the public schools. I think it’s really special because in most of the places in the world, the best schools are private ones. Also, for lunch, we have 2 hours where we’re totally free, in China.

VR: And you don’t have Academic Success–

DBV: That’s just this school–

VR: Because the first thing I thought when I heard about Academic Success was, “I didn’t take this!”

ROAR: What cultural differences among people have you noticed between your home country and the U.S.?

CT: Some of  the people here are really fat and big. When I walk in the hallway at first, I was so scared. Everyone was so big, and I was so small, and I was so scared. But I’m used to that now.

DBV: It’s because of the food! Have you noticed that every single exchange student that comes here gets fat–

CT, WW, VR: Yes!

DBV: There’s a lot of fast food. You think that you aren’t going to eat the fast food, but you end up doing it. Like, I gained 20 pounds in 3 months.

VR: I think it’s because we eat our national food our whole lives, and suddenly it just changes when we come here. 

ABP: Also, I’ve noticed that in America, the routine is more a percentage of work than actual outside activities. You don’t accomplish a lot during that time period, and you just want to go home and rest.

VR: Yeah, all the time here, I’m so tired after school because there are so many classes, and you have to know everything.

DBV: But you basically do nothing all day! In Mexico, I would get out of school, go to cheer-leading practice, go home, eat something, get changed, go to dance class, come back, do homework, and get in bed before midnight. But here, it’s like, I go to school, I’m tired, I go home, I take a nap, I do nothing. Time goes by so fast, and you don’t have time to do anything.

WW: Yeah, I don’t know why, but I feel more tired here–

VR: But it also depends on your level and classes you take here.

ABP: Also, what I think is interesting is that Americans are more of like, they have their own space. Personal spaces are such a big deal. In Mexico, you say hi to someone and kiss them on a cheek–

DBV: Yeah, we’ve been in many situations like that here, where I’m like, “Hey,” and I tried to get closer, and they’re just like, “Hey, whoa, no.”

WW: I think for Asia, it’s the opposite.

CT: Yeah, here, people hug so much. But Japanese people don’t at all.

DBV: Oh, I didn’t know that. The world is so different.

ABP: I remember whenever I came here, the first year, we watched Napoleon Dynamite, and I was like “Why is this so funny?” So you also have to get used to the comedy here.

VR: And the way people call each other! Once, in class, a teacher was like, “Hey, babe,” and I was like, “Who are you talking to?”

ROAR: What do you miss most about your home country?

ABP: Definitely the food. I miss just going out in the streets to get it. The cheapest restaurants in Mexico happen to be the best ones usually, which is really interesting. And you don’t find all the ingredients for real Mexican food here.

WW: I feel like because America is so highly developed, it’s kind of boring. In China, like Mexico, you can go out into the street and go to a food stand–

DBV: It’s more homemade. Like, you’re eating soup at a restaurant here, and it came from a can.

CT: I miss baths. We would put on the hot water and soak every night in a special room for just bathing. And I miss Japanese food, every Japanese food. Here, salty is really salty, and sweet is really sweet, and spicy is really spicy. The Japanese flavor is delicate, so it’s really different, and I miss that. But I went to Naked Fish, and I had sushi, and that was pretty good–

DBV: That means we have to go there. We have a Japanese that said it was good.

WW: Oh, I really miss the bookstores in Beijing, and I would always do my homework there. I feel like here, nobody likes going to bookstores–

VR: I haven’t even seen a bookstore here. And I miss little grocery stores, where you go everyday. Here, the stores are so big, and you have to go every week to buy all the products you need for the whole week. And we have a really huge farmer’s market in Ukraine.

CT: I also miss buses and trains–

VR, WW: Public transport!

CT: Here, every time I want to go somewhere, I have to ask my host parents to drive me somewhere–

VR: What can I do if I don’t have money for a car or a driver’s license–

WW: In China, I would go alone every weekend somewhere through public transportation, just by myself or with friends–

DBV: You have more freedom back home.

ROAR: What has made you feel at home in America?

VR: Host family.

CT: Sushi restaurants.

WW: I don’t really feel at home with the restaurants because they are not really Chinese food. We have thousands of different foods, but over here, it’s like, orange chicken, General Tso’s chicken, beef and broccoli, and that’s it. But, I feel really happy here. People are so kind. They help me get through stuff, and the teachers here are so friendly.

DBV: You’re never going to feel like you’re at home home. But we’ve been living here for two, three years, so it’s like, you live somewhere else. It’s another home. I’ve kind of learned that home is where my family is.

ABP: Aw, cheesy.

CT: At some points, America is better, and at some points, it’s worse. The better part? I like to hug people.

ABP: I’m going to hug you, I’ve been waiting for you to say that–

DBV: Are we all having a group hug–

ROAR: What about your home country do you think would surprise Americans the most?

DBV: Let’s start with, Mexicans don’t wear sombreros everyday, we don’t eat chili every day, not all of us like spicy food, we don’t eat tacos everyday.

ABP: Yeah, a lot of people think that because of the political condition of Mexico, you’re able to see drug deals on a daily basis, but that’s not true.

ROAR: What advice do you have for people who want to visit America for the first time?

DBV: Be prepared and open-minded.

VR: Yep.

WW: Mhm.

VR: Smile all the time — you may not understand what people are saying, but just smile. The first time I came over here, people tried to talk to me, and I just didn’t know English, but I smiled.

DBV: If you’re not used to speaking English all day, get ready for some headaches the first days.

ABP: It’s everywhere, and you have to spend so much time listening, listening, concentrating. You don’t get to learn the special English words at school that are slang.

DBV: Like, we learned proper English in Mexico. We were like, “‘My bad’? What’s ‘my bad’? You’re bad?”

WW: Yeah, and, “You’re good.” I didn’t understand that.

ABP: Just be open to the fact that you will never have this experience in another country, you’ll never have this variability of people. You can learn so much from different people, and it’s not that it’s necessarily the best way, the way people think. It’s just different. You get to see from other people’s perspectives.

DBV: Just be open-minded and positive and learn from every single thing you see.

ROAR: What’s your favorite American food?

CT: I like tacos–

DBV: Oh, those are not American.