Summary and Response

It was the summer of 2012, my friend and I decided we wanted to take a vacation to America. We were going to meet up with two other friends who were already in America for school. I have traveled all my life, but I had never been to America before. I was studying in England at this time, but I am born and raised in Saudi Arabia. I had time off of school and this is why we decided to plan a trip. Little did we know how this 24 day vacation would later affect my life.

Most Saudi Arabian guys would be shocked when arriving in America, but I was not as I already said I have traveled all over. It was very different for me, but not shocking. We arrived in Los Angeles first. This was a huge city and can be very dangerous. I don’t think it is a city where I enjoy driving. There is a lot of traffic and the roads can be confusing. We got a car and I drove even though I was nervous. We decided we would take a road trip and drive to all of our destinations.

Back in England, where I was attending school, we could walk instead of driving. When I arrived I realized that in America, everyone drives even if it is right down the street. First thing I saw was women driving and this I was not used to. In Saudi Arabia, my home country, women do not drive at all. So I wasn’t surprised to see this but it was interesting.

We had hope that we would see some famous people in Los Angeles, but if we did we may not have realized it. We went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and went shopping in Beverly Hills. It was a very beautiful city. There were very rich homes and cars everywhere. After we visited Los Angeles we went to San Diego. In San Diego we went to the zoo. It was fun and there were so many different animals. I had heard about this zoo from my friends. We drove to San Francisco and it was nice there. We wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge because it was a famous place. San Francisco is a city where everyone feels free and people really try to get along with one another. All along I kept noticing small differences from Saudi Arabian culture. I already had decided by this time that I liked America better than England.

California is really known for the surfers and being by the ocean. So we had to experience this while there on vacation. I really like the water and being by the ocean. It was a very relaxing experience. We spent a few days at the beach. The weather was very warm, but not as hot as Saudi Arabia. We just sat on the beach, went swimming, and relaxed. It was fun trying to learn to surf. I wasn’t that successful at it but it was still fun to try.

Being on the beach was quite different than being in Saudi Arabia because I saw the women dress with a lot less clothing than our women in Saudi Arabia. The women in our country would never be able to wear bathing suits or bikinis. They wear very modest with clothing and no skin is showing except her hands and her eyes. At the beach in California the women barely wore clothing. When we left the beach we decided to drive over to Las Vegas, Nevada.

In Las Vegas we went to many casinos. This was an experience I had never had before. In Saudi Arabia we don’t have casinos and clubs. I loved the casino and gambling. We went to several shows while there and stayed out every night. It was a beautiful city at night, with all the lights. The people partying and gambling the night away. We don’t gamble or drink alcohol in Saudi Arabia, so this was something that we definitely had to do while visiting America. No one goes to Las Vegas and not gamble. We may not have won a lot of money, but we sure had a lot of fun.

I learned some interesting words on this trip. I heard some younger people talking to each other and they kept saying, “Dude.” I didn’t know what this meant, but needless to say, I later discovered that it was just another word to call on someone instead of using their name. Most people don’t realize that one word can confuse someone, but if English is not the first language then it can be misinterpreted easily. I knew some English already, but this word was slang and it wasn’t in my vocabulary. Also, I had a problem when I would ask someone if they were in line. This was because back in England the word for “line” was “queue.” So I kept saying, “Are you in queue?” The people here in America would look at me funny and wonder what I was talking about. I learned the correct word after a few times.

Overall this was a very fun and exciting vacation. I learned about the American culture and I got to see many beautiful places. The cultures are very different but I knew I could learn to deal with it and accept it. I enjoyed myself so much that I decided I wanted to transfer to Utah University in 2013. I left England and continued my studies here in America. After being at Utah I transferred to Tampa to finish my degrees. The reason I chose Tampa was because I love the nice weather and being close to the ocean. My experience on this vacation, to America for the first time, was my turning point. This experience made an impact on the rest of my life. I will go back to Saudi Arabia after I finish my degrees, but for right now I plan to enjoy the beach.