Like thunder her visit hits me. She moves constantly in all directions, throws her “how ya doin?” at everyone in her path. When asked how a Qatari speaks English so fluently, she responds promptly: “I studied in the States.” Whenever she wants to tease me, she calls me “stiff upper-lip British gal”.
This ambiance that she creates is not unique to her; in fact all of my friends who graduated from the States are this way: outspoken, extremely friendly and love exercising their language muscles.
It seems that certain commonalities exist between those who graduate from a certain country. I do share some qualities with those who graduated from the UK. And more interestingly they are the qualities that distinguish us “UK graduates” from the “US graduates”. It is comical sometimes how we tend to concentrate on the differences, mostly to distinguish ourselves from them. I’m not referring to the differences in the education systems and don’t intend to put myself in a conundrum here, being a British system graduate who teaches at an American university!! I’m rather talking about the manners and habits that we have acquired due to the long exposure to either culture, British or American. My exposure to the American culture was short, I only spent 6 months in Pittsburgh teaching at the mother campus, yet it gave me a taste of the American culture, which made me able to infer several factors that must have contributed in the formation of my friends’ identities.
First of all, a common feature among students who graduated from the UK is how they have obtained an accent that is diluted- neither British nor American, whilst US graduates come back with a pronounced American accent. Second, UK graduates find it easier to blend back into the cultural fabrics of the community, whereas US graduates struggle to readjust for longer periods. After passing the readjusting phase, the UK graduates take a middle-ground position between tradition and modernity, whilst US graduates gravitate towards one of the two opposites.
I think that these differences are due to the cultural settings of both countries. In the UK, especially in London, the only exposure we had to the British culture was confined to the university. Now we can argue over what a British culture is, but let us say it is the one we associate with the Queen and the Union Jack. Immigrants have established their own communities; the Arab community is one of the biggest and the most diverse. We mingled with Arabs, we ate at Arabic restaurants, and we hung out in Arab area. We never felt away from home. We lived by our cultural norms and rules, and the constraints were the same. There were no pressing need to assimilate, and we instead lived in a state of integration. We were a part of the bigger community, abided by their rules and followed their vacations; still they accepted our cultural specificities.
On the other hand, our friends in the US expressed how difficult it was for them to maintain their cultural identities there. And of course the geographical distance as well as the time difference made it harder for them to maintain a healthy connection with home. They had to choose between segregating themselves from the dominant culture or total assimilation. Thus, those who assimilated gained a better understanding of the American culture, their language, and style of living. Yet, this made it harder for them to go from an individualistic culture to a collectivistic one. And following the approach they have already taken in the States, they took sides within the home culture, choosing to become either traditional or liberal and weren’t able to find a middle ground.
This is not a scholarly study, and there were no qualitative or quantitative techniques used! These are my personal observations, and my sample here is too small to build a study upon!
Kbaisi
LOL!!!! This is very true indeed, and I never gave much thought to the reasons why until you stated them here! Just found your blog recently and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.May 31st, 2009 @ 9:15 pm
Amal Almalki
Thanks a million K. I'm thoroughly happy to read your comment. Keep it coming.May 31st, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
Noor Al-Jassim
You have always surprised me about the kind of topic you are thinking about. I thought about the differences only once in my time because I have friends who are studying in Leeds, but we never talked about that!! I was wondering, what are the differences between the students who are studying in the American Universities in Qatar with those in who are in the main campus? In terms of culture, I know we have created our own culture that is kind of a third culture that is combining the American culture with our own Qatari culture. What about the other things?June 1st, 2009 @ 10:34 am
Amal Almalki
Noor let us open it then for inquiry! I hope seniors and graduates would participate in this discussion. The main question here is: “How do you describe your cultural identity?” Following questions could be: “what have impacted you the most during the years you’ve spent at the university: your native culture or the university’s culture? How do you describe the impact? This could lead to a very valid study. Interested?!June 2nd, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
MIMI
I don’t see British as stiff-upper lip at all; I had a wonderful experience with them. I like the way they function; very effective. I find them to be tolerant and fair towards people from different backgrounds. They don’t expect you to change or be like them or adapt their life style if you don’t want to; and you will still be their friend. I guess that’s why many have maintained their connections with their roots without difficulties. You get what you deserve; by merit. I defiantly adapted British characteristics; like queuing up; expecting everyone to be polite; respecting time; never ask personal questions; accept other’s differences without judgment …etc. Personally I never tried to mingled with Arabs on purpose; they were simple every where. There were Arabic restaurants and shops but I never felt that I want or need to go there. But it was defiantly not easy to blend in when I came back. I hate it when people know that I used to be in London; they raise an eye brow and say “eee banat landaan!” what does that supposed to mean?June 4th, 2009 @ 11:13 am
Rashid
Interesting thoughts. I like your final remark that this is not a study and is merely your thoughts. I believe it is important to make such distinction whenever needed. I would like to make two points. First, in the US, you can have very similar experience to UK in terms of mixing with Arabs and not living the American culture, depending on which state you live in. And I agree that gaining the American accent is easier than the British one [one has to spend lots of money and time to gain the British accent : ) - which I enjoy listening to]. The other point is I think we in this region are lucky simply because our culture is a mixture between the far Eastern and the West. I do not believe we have a collectivistic culture. Rather, I think we have a balanced culture between individualism and collectivism. I think it is much easier for us (Arabs) to assimilate or re-assimilate than others who go from West to Far East or other way around. In my opinion, another great advantage of our religion/ culture that we must appreciate.June 6th, 2009 @ 1:16 pm