Become a man in America (Chung-Chih Chi)

The United States of America is one of the powerful countries in the world. Therefore, many people from Asia are trying to study here and I am also the one who study here. The size of America is much larger than my own country, Taiwan. The US is also the first country that I have been abroad and I have studied there for about three years since my junior year in high school. Before I went to America, I did not really have any idea about this country, but I knew there were lots of fast food and American people were big and strong. I felt so excited about new things and new environment I was going to see there. However, after I started my life in America, things did not go as I thought. I had faced many problems and challenges and it took a long time for me to adjust to this new environment and it made me grow up.
In the beginning of my new life in the US, it was great. I saw many things that I had never seen before: food, buildings, clothes, science and technology, scenery, and so on; everything just looked different from things in Taiwan. I remember the first day I went to my class in high school; it was outstanding because teachers and classmates were all Americans and the only one language that we could communicate was English. Also, the size of each class was much smaller than the class in Taiwan. The most different thing was the system of teaching; it was totally different from I was used to be. In Taiwan, the way that professors teach is always like they are standing in front of all the students and start to lecture and write down notes on the board. The only thing students do is to take notes from the board and listen and usually, there will be about fifty students in each class. However, after I came to America, I found that American system of teaching was much more interesting and fun because there were many activities going on in the classroom. For example, after I had touched with American education, I realized that teachers liked to give group projects, discuss problems or have small games in the class. They give students space to have their own opinion and thought.
But, things did not go well. I suddenly realized I had difficulty in my language. I could not understand what people said to me. Even if things that teacher taught in the class, I might not understand and it made my grade so poor that I almost fail some of my classes. Also, I had difficulty in conversation with my roommate. He always tried to tell me something fun or interesting, but I could not understand. As time passed, he turned not to talk to me because he knew I would not get the meaning about what he said. I could not easily make friends because very few Americans would have patience to listen to me and explain to me.
Furthermore, I started to think of my family and friends in Taiwan. I had never left my family for this long time because I used to live with them in Taiwan. I missed the food my mom used to make for me, the game my brothers used to play with me, and the principle my dad used to give me. I also missed my friends that I used to have good time with. In this period, I felt homesick and melancholy, and the only thing I wanted to do was going back to Taiwan.
However, when I had a chance to talk with my friends on internet, all they cared about were things that appeared in the movies. For example, they would ask things like that: was it true that many famous brands in America were much cheaper than Taiwan, could you see many hot girls on the street, or how snow felt like and so on. All they knew were goods in America, but they did not know how many things I had given up to study in America, like friendships, family, and love.
Eventually, I had adjusted to the life in America and I felt more comfortable about everything in there. My English had improved a lot and I could understand better about things teachers taught in the class and things that people were saying to me. I had less chance to have misunderstanding with others. I started making friends and I could communicate with my roommate. I felt I became tougher and maturer when dealing with things and problems. I am glad that I came to America because the experiences make me grow up from a boy to a man.