We all know that there are many differences between countries, but not everyone can tell what the difference exactly is. I used to be like that, until I came to America. At first, when I was in China, my impression of America is full of tall buildings, modern style, lots of traffic and junk foods. Also has better environment with fresh air and green trees. However, I was wrong. When I really set foot on America, I found there are so many differences between Champaign and Beijing. These differences can be seen through the urban landscape, the environment and food.
When you come to a different country, what you noted at the first glance must be the landscape. So, that is the first difference I felt. When I was taking off from O'Hare, sitting on the LEX, looking outside the window, instead of high buildings and crowded streets like in Beijing, what displayed in front of me is a quiet and cozy small village with less people and fewer cars. The houses here is not that high, but really pretty and neat, has their own style.
The environment here is much better than Beijing, which really impressed me. The sky is so blue and clear, which I have never seen in Beijing. In Beijing, most of the days are cloudy and serious pollution makes the sky gray, full of dust and smog. For the first time in my life, I saw so many stars and constellations in the sky at night in extreme clarity. There are not many plants like trees and green grass in Beijing. At UIUC, I can see different types of trees anywhere I go. On the quad, there is a big field of grass people can relax and play on. These types of activities are not allowed in China due to the lack of fresh grass. Another big difference is that there are many animals here in UIUC like lovely squirrels and cute bunnies that are not afraid of humans. It’s very rare to see these animals in streets of Beijing.
The foods and table manners between China and America are also very different. The most obvious difference is that Chinese people use chopsticks while eating and America people use fork and knife. Also in America, everyone has their own plate of food, but in China the dishes are all placed on the table and everybody shares. And Chinese food is much healthier than American food. In American restaurants there are many fried stuff, which some Chinese people will never eat. While Chinese people eat more vegetables, Americans eat more meat.
All in all, there are many differences between America and China. Landscape, environment and food are the three parts of differences I’ve found. However, differences are not only existed in these areas. So far, I have been in the US for nearly half of a year and have been adapted to most of the American style. In my opinion, all these specific object are derived from culture diversity and life style, and they do provide us one perspective of the typical US society.
