Thanksgiving - discovering american habits
After traveling home for Fall Break, I came back to Atlanta and finally felt like I was adapting. I had a wonderful time here, enjoyed Halloween, and explored the city. This changed when it was time for Thanksgiving, however. I had always heard of Thanksgiving, but since we do not celebrate it in Brazil I didn't know much about it. Since I attended an American school, I also had a holiday for Thanksgiving. Yet most of my friends were Brazilian and had families who did not know anything about the holiday. I was surprised to find out how seriously people take Thanksgiving here. All of my friends went home. Some international students even went back to their home countries, and others met aunts and uncles that lived in different areas of the United States. Because I didn't plan ahead, I did not travel. I stayed in my dorm, and it felt somewhat lonely.
I decided to take the time to get to know Atlanta and I had some interesting discoveries. Everywhere I go, I learned more and more about different American customs and habits. I visited Piedmont Park. I had already been there for Music Midtown, but I hadn't had a chance to explore. Even though it was really cold, it is truly an amazing place. After my trip to Piedmont Park, I choose to visit Centennial Park. I was excited to discover SkyView Atlanta, a ferris wheel next to centennial park that allows people to overlook the city. After I rode the ferris wheel, I was crossing the street to get a cab and discovered something interesting about the American culture. Several cars were coming and going, and I did not want to wait to cross the street, so I naturally walked to the middle of the street. I would cross half the street and wait at the double yellow lines in the middle of the street until I could cross the other half. Everyone does this in Brazil all the time and cars just continue to drive normally. What I was surprised to find, however, was that cars stopped on both sides of the yellow lines until I crossed the street safely. My friend wasn't surprised, since she told me cars tend to stop even if you cross the street out of time. After this day, I chose to begin to pay more attention to small cultural differences between the United States and Brazil that tend to go by unnoticed. |