Iron Chef Competition in LLC

"My God, all in English, how can I ever study this!"

This was the first thought in my mind while holding a big and heavy stack of books, all in "English". It was a sunny Saturday morning when for the first time, I was at Appalachian State University, in Boone, North Carolina to obtain books and prepare for my first class.

My first week of school was a whole new story, from getting up early to finding the way to class, because the campus is very large. The first class for the week was Survey of Finance.  Entering the class of all American students, the American professor, and of course, everything spoken in English at very fast rate, I could say, although this may be redundant, but for a student who is not used to study in an “all English” environment, this should be called a " whole new world". Because I had got acquainted with an American friend before that, so he sat next to me when I first came to class. After that class, before going home he asked if I understood anything. I replied briefly: "No!" And then, of course, he laughed out loud "haha".

In fact, my head seemed to be overloaded in the cold weather of this foreign country, the time zone here is lagged exactly half a day from Vietnam, and the time I was supposed to go to bed, I would have to run around for classes. Then came the second day in class, with the course of "Risk Management and Insurance", there were too many new terms and key words, therefore, using dictionary was necessary; the problem was that my only dictionary was in my cell phone, and so, the professor walked right to me and said "Do not use your cell phone in class!". All eyes in the class suddenly fell on me, my face turned red. Immediately after the class, I approached the professor and explain my problem. She smiled and said okay, and then, she asked me different things about my initial feelings in coming here to study.

 The first week ended with plenty of emotions and was also the beginning for a series of study plans for the second week.

Till now, I have attended the class more than a month. Although there are still many difficulties, I know what I should and must do before class and I'm also getting used to learning methodology of students here. I am also no longer shy like on the first day. Since my major is Business Administration, beside the class hours, I participated in many presentations of the professors and guest speakers from renowned companies like Microsoft, Google, etc. I also attended job fairs, where companies from many places came to our campus to present job and internship opportunities for American students and international students. One interesting thing is besides listening to and looking for new information, we, students, also got free pizza, cookies and coffee. Such activities take place every week not only in Business faculty but also in many other faculties such as IT and Education. And besides studying and career events, there were also many extra-curricular activities for students like us including International Coffee Hour, Iron Chef (cooking competition), sports competitions such as soccer, badminton, basket-ball, ...

International Coffee Hours

A month went by, things have changed, I myself have changed a bit. Where I am living is a dorm complex called LLC - Living Learning Center", a beautiful, comfortable and fun place. LLC had a kitchen for me to cook Vietnamese dishes whenever I miss home, a private study hall when I need quiet time, it also had  computer room for the first couple of days when I did not have a laptop yet. My roommate is a cute and kind American girl. The other friends around me, too, all love and helped me a lot to adapt to the learning and living conditions here. It is interesting that everyone sees me as little sister because my small stature, even though I am, in fact, older than them.

For the first time, I were attending school so far away from my home, for the first time, my classes were all in English, many surprise and anxiety, even I was crying a lot in the first couple of days, and sometimes even wished to return to Vietnam immediately because of being overloaded. Overloaded because I couldn’t stand the cold weather here, overloaded because I couldn’t eat the food here, overloaded because of so many strangers, and overloaded because of the language. I missed home, I missed my parents, my friends, I missed Vietnamese language, Vietnamese foods, and I could not sleep well. Those were my thoughts in the first couple of days. Now I know I have to try harder, I cannot whine and complain like when I was with my parents anymore. Nobody has free time to listen to my complaints.

Just four more months before I can come home, not a long period left, and the initial difficulties have gradually diminished. I can now keep pace of my study and my life here. Time is passing by, and I suddenly realize that I need to study well to enjoy the feeling of being a student in the United States.

The weather is so cold but I feel warm every time when I meet a friend and get a warm hug from them in the morning. It is cold and snowy. I love snow, the first time I saw snow, I nearly shouted out loud because of the shape of snowflakes was so beautiful, exactly like what I had imagined before. Spring is coming, and of course, it is warming up gradually. Sometimes I wish for spring to come late a bit so that the snow will not melt away. The food just cannot be compared to the foods in Vietnam but since I have come to the U.S, why I don’t just try to adapt the food here. Before coming here, my teachers at Duy Tan University had advised me to eat cheese and drink a lot of milk which will be good for our health under this cold weather, so just try for a sake of my health in order to study well. No longer are the cold and lonely days because around me now are plenty of friends and laughter though sometimes the language barrier still blocked the way. But it seems there are also so many other ways to express our feelings and understanding to each other. Studying is still a difficult challenge to me, but I now know what should I do: I should read the book before class, so that I can keep pace with what the teacher say, so as to avoid using dictionary in class which could create the misunderstanding what I was texting.

Reception day

So the very first thought of "How can I ever study this!" now becomes "if I cannot, I will have to change that and I must study well."

As a final note, I love Boone because it’s just like Da Nang - a peaceful, gentle, and happy place but also with snow.

Appalachian State University - Boone, North Carolina.

February 2012.

Nguyen Minh Thao.