The funniest questions international students get asked by Americans
‘So…do you believe in Zeus?’
We tend to have stereotypical representations of cultures that we obtain from the media, our social environment or our education. Arriving to New York as an international student can be a struggle, yet it can be quite funny when you’re asked questions like this:
Joumana, Anthropology, U.A.E
“I’ve been asked if I rode a camel to school.”
Chara, Neuroscience, Cyprus
“So…do you believe in Zeus?”
Noha, Libya, Engineering
“Where are you from?” “Libya.”
“Where’s that?” “North Africa.”
“Why aren’t you black?”
“[holding a laptop] Do you know how to use it?”
Steven, Tisch, France
“So is it true that people don’t wash themselves, or girls don’t shave their armpits?”
Utpala, Economics, India and lived in Dubai
“I’ve been asked if Dubai is India’s commercial capital.”
Ollia, Biology, Russia
“Do you love Putin? Huh ? But everyone in Russia loves Putin don’t they?”
Davena, Neuroscience, Hong Kong
“One girl is always telling me how she went to Stuyvesant and it was mostly “Asians” (Asian Americans) and then she literally said ‘So I know quite a lot about your culture.'”
Dilan, Linguistics, Turkey
“Someone asked me, ‘Do you wear the “thing”‘ ? And then made weird hand gestures (they meant the burqa). Someone else was surprised when I mentioned Turkey wasn’t all a desert!”
To debunk some of the mysteries: cars do exist in the UAE. In fact the UAE has one of the fastest growing car markets since 2014.
Zeus is not an official religion.
Libyans come in all different shades.
French bathrooms have showers in them.
Dubai and India are separate – one’s a country, the other’s a city in the UAE.
Not every one of the 143.5 million Russians has a similar stance on Putin.
Going to Stuyvesant High doesn’t make you familiar with Asian culture. In fact there is no such thing as “Asian Culture”. Each Asian country is quite different.
Finally , Turkey is half in Asia and half in Europe, and it is quite Mediterranean. Do you want to see a desert ? Go to the Gulf region or to Texas.