Sharing my Elixir

For my final blog this semester, I have to write about how I make decisions. I decided to have fun with this post, since it might be my last one for a while.

At the beginning of this semester, I shared with my peers in class that I shop when I am happy or need some cheering up. I guess shopping is an “elixir” to me as Robitussin was to people in the past.

On an episode of the show Everybody Loves Chris, a man runs over to Chris’ family house and informs Chris’ mom that one of her kids had been knocked down by a car. As Rochelle runs out to go see her child, she remembers that she has to go take her miracle drug, Robitussin.

Ha!

But I digress. Unable to find a job with a master’s degree in Biology, my elder sister went back to school a couple of years ago to obtain a nursing degree. It’s been a tough journey and I even moved in with her so I could help babysit her son. Well, she will be graduating in two weeks and I am ecstatic! That calls for shopping!

My sister calls me her personal stylist because she does go out shopping often. She therefore put me in charge of buying her graduation outfit. What a huge decision! J Here are the things I have to consider when picking out the items:

Dress: I love colors, but on a serious occasion like a graduation ceremony, I prefer dresses in less flashy and more conservative colors. I think UT Arlington actually mentions that point somewhere on the dress code, but I’m actually picking out what I like.

Shoes: My favorite things to buy. This is where color comes in. Every outfit needs some color and where is a better place to call attention to yourself than your feet!

Jewelry and accessories: They definitely will be the same color as the shoes I ordered. The size will be definitely a struggle between my sister and me, but I will win. I enjoy bigger jewelry pieces.

Above all, whatever I pick has to make her happy. As much as deciding what style or color of dress my sister should wear makes me happy, my aim is to put a smile on her face. That is the biggest and most important factor that drives my decision-making.

Learning a new language. Oh La La

English and French are the official languages of my country, Cameroon. However, depending on what region of the country you hail from, your first language is usually one and not both of them. My parents are English-speaking, thus, English was the first and only language I spoke for the first six to seven years of my life.

How I learned French is however not my focus in this post. Instead, I am writing about my transition from British English to American English. See folks, culture shock is real!  I am used to saying things like: boot and not trunk; biscuits and not crackers and my “Ts” make a sound when I use them. Imagine my four-year-old nephew once corrected me; “Aunty, it is water (transcribed: /ˈwɔtər/) and not water (transcribed: /ˈwôtər’/. 

In the US, I learned pretty quickly that I had to change the way I speak and write English or risk being misunderstood. The saying; “when you go to Rome do what the Romans do” is certainly good advice.

It is very upsetting when people do not understand you even though you speak the same language. I had to learn how to speak and write American English or take the risk of repeating myself numerous times. I read my papers searching for “misspelled” words like neighbour, parlour and labour instead of neighbor, parlor and labor. 

 Thanks for telling & showing us how international students feel Buzzfeed!

I have to say it was and still is a frustrating experience as I have to force myself to fight back from that voice in my head that tells me that I already know English, and that British English is the proper English. Sometimes, it is easier to learn a subject when you approach it with a fresh mind, and that has been my biggest challenge as I work each day toward learning American spellings, figures of speech among other things.

While I may never speak or write American English perfectly, I now find myself in a tough position. To my American friends, I speak English with a foreign flavored accent and to my Cameroonian friends, I don’t sound African anymore. I suppose language has made me a hybrid and most people have a hard time identifying where I come from.