Loading ...Arab in Arkansas
Homesickness is an experience to which most college students can relate. Whether students are two hours or 20 minutes away from home, there has been a time for most when the “There’s no place like home feeling” becomes undeniably true.
It is easy to think that most international students suffer from an even greater feeling of homesickness. Although this is a typical assumption, it is not always the case. A-State has a diverse population of international students, most of whom are far away from their homes and families.
Omar Alaraimi, a senior business administration student from Oman, is a great representation of the international student community.
Oman is in the Middle East and is just about two hours outside of Dubai.
Even though he is far from his home, Alaraimi has not let the distance discourage him. He attends A-State with his brother, while his two sisters remain in Oman.
Throughout the conversation, it was clear that traditional students make a number of judgments about international students, particularly those from Arab cultures, that are often untrue.
For example, Alaraimi said that people often hear that he is from the Gulf and immediately assume that he has money and oil.
Alaraimi’s family supported him completely in his decision to come to America to get a degree. He said most companies in Oman put great value on degrees that are received in the U.S. Those companies also value applicants who can speak better English.
“My dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps and study in the United States,” Alaraimi said. He also had uncles who have studied at A-State.
“It is better to have a degree outside of Oman,” he said. “I have big opportunities with my major, with my options to go back and work.”
The decision to study at a university in the United States can be a vital decision for most students, and that decision often comes with great support from their families.
Another misconception that students often make is that Arab students have a hard time adapting to the American culture.
Alaraimi has lived in other countries outside of his own and outside of the United States, such as Holland and Germany. He has lived outside of Oman for eight years now, so being surrounded by other cultures is not as challenging for him as most people would believe. When asked about the difficulties of adapting to American culture, he found it difficult to answer.
“For me it wasn’t that difficult compared to other students that came to the United States,” Alaraimi said. “I used to live abroad a lot.”
However, Alaraimi said there are always some aspects when traveling to new places. “I was expecting Jonesboro to be way, way deserted with nothing in it,” he said.
Looking at the world with an ethnocentric view, evaluating other people and cultures according to the standards of one’s own, may cause some traditional students to believe that Arab students view America higher up on the totem pole than their own culture.
However, there are some features of American culture that international students do not favor in place of their own. Alaraimi, for example, does not like the famous tradition of American fast food. In fact, he said he prefers the food back home in Oman.
“It’s so cheap when you’re on a tight budget,” he said, in regards to fast food, “so sometimes you have to just go with it.” He said that even the cheapest food in his hometown is still high quality. Food seems to be a main cultural difference between the United States and Oman.
Meanwhile, Alaraimi made it evident that his overall experience with Americans has been positive.
“I was expecting the people to be very different,” he admitted.
Nevertheless, Alaraimi had a negative recount of his time in the United Kingdom, where several people made unkind remarks about his culture, saying that his people had “oil in their backyards” and “rode camels.”
“We are civilized. We’ve got cars. We drive cars and we’ve got malls,” he said. He said that he often felt misjudged there, whereas here he has had much more positive encounters with people.
He said residents of the United States seem to be more open-minded.
“Here I met nice people that are totally the opposite of what I thought they would be,” he said. “Here the people are more open minded.”
Walking around campus, it would not be uncommon to see Arab students engaging in typical, everyday activities.
It is also not unusual to see them participating in “traditionally American” happenings, such as attending football games or going to the movies.
Alaraimi said he has cookouts with his friends regularly here, just as he would with his family back home. Although American students often view students from the Arab culture in a different light, it is clear to see that they are not very different.
Alaraimi works with the soccer club, which is an activity in which traditional students and international students participate. He is also an active member of the International Student Association, and is a student helper in the International Student center.
Comparing other cultures to that of the United States can often lead to an extremely narrow-minded view of the world. Taking a step outside of the American culture can be the first step to learning and appreciating the cultural differences that surround A-State students. In Alaraimi’s case, stepping into the American culture yielded few challenges, but several great rewards.
Source: www.astateherald.com