“You are late, again!!!” complained the Teaching Assistant. With teary eyes, I tried unsuccessfully to explain that I had been just 5 minutes late, only three times. Haha, Poor me! In America, 5 minutes of lateness is as grievous as an unexcused absence. I had only just discovered that in my first few months. My problem was that I could be innocently idling away somewhere close to the event hall until 15 minutes before my lecture time or any other event. It was indeed an innocent habit until everyone started complaining about it. Even 5 minutes late is actually very early in Africa! I had always thought to myself. In fact, if an event states 6 pm as the start time and you arrive on time, you will not just be too early; in reality, you will end up helping the event planner set up the entire event center till the guests and even the hosts themselves arrive at least one hour later! Interestingly, African events here in Houston have not disappointed me yet in that uncanny culture. It is popularly called African Time, and that terrible habit was the first and toughest for me to break! After much chastisement, I began arriving at least 30 minutes earlier for lectures and other events. Instead of idling away in a corner until the set time as usual, I would arrive at the event early and sit out the 30 minutes, replying to emails or completing my assignments. Since being punctual, I feel better, more disciplined, and even fulfilled. Now, no one complains about my lateness anymore, which used to bother me so much earlier on. A win is a win!!!
Dear New African students, in case you are struggling with lateness too, here are tips that helped me: I started using reminders and alarms on my digital devices; I put up sticker notes everywhere around my room, laptops and reading desks, I talked to my very disciplined flat mates, friends and course mates to constantly checkup, remind me and drag me along all the time; and most importantly, I worked on myself. I sat myself down and had an honest conversation with myself; in fact, I even prayed about it. I came up with a plan to paint a better image of myself, and guyssssssssssssssssssssssssssss, it is working!!! Kindly give it a try too!
Lateness aside, I grappled a lot with the concept of the waste bin and recycle bin before I eventually got it right! Back home, we put everything in the trash can! Everything! Who has time for sorting? But I remember that we occasionally tend to burn the flammable dry trash like paper, carton, and clothes during dry seasons, refill farmlands with perishable trash from food like banana and plantain peels, fruit, and vegetable wastes, etc. (Almost all homes had a farmland or garden behind it) and wait for the Government trash collectors to cart away with the rest every Saturday! At refuse dumps, scavengers come scouting for probably recyclable materials or “treasures”. Some mobile men go street by street, screaming “bottles!” to collect reusable waste bottles from homes in exchange for some money. As kids, we derived a lot of joy from collecting used medicine bottles from several homes, hoping to make a lot of money when the “Bottles!” (as we fondly called the mobile recycling men) came that weekend. It is even more organized here in the US. The wastes are cleared and labeled. One for paper, and one for bottles, another for trash, and sometimes, others for landfills. It took me a long time to get used to that system of trash. And to be honest, low-key, deep down in my heart somewhere, I wish new students should be given an Orientation on Waste and Waste management in the United States.
Coming from a former British colony, I battled with some conversations at school; for example, I would say, I want biscuits, and everyone is looking at me strangely till I point at them, and they are all like, “Hey, cookies!!!” Because scones are to the British what Sweet Biscuits are to the Americans. We say Sweets, Americans say candy. We say Toilet tissue paper, Americans say Bath tissue. We say 'flat,’ Americans say 'apartment.’ We say ‘dustbin’, Americans say ‘garbage can'. We say 'sofa,’ Americans say 'couch.’ We say ‘take-away box’; Americans say ‘to-go’ box. We say wardrobe, Americans say closet. We say ‘soccer’, Americans say ‘football’. The British spell ‘colour’, Americans spell ‘color’. We measure in Kilograms and degrees Celsius, while Americans measure in pounds and degrees Fahrenheit. I am still struggling with the measurement conversions to this day. Another one was the pronunciation of ‘water’ in my British/Nigerian accent, as opposed to the American pronunciation. However, my first-year flatmate was British. She understood me perfectly but found some of my pronunciations very hilarious. I did not have much communication and understanding problems with her.
What I truly enjoyed most was the number of international students at Rice. I have never been surrounded by people from different countries and colours at once in my entire life! I loved staying at the Rice Graduate Apartments and interacting with and learning from the diverse body of international students from all walks of life. All my flatmates helped shape my first formative years here. They practically taught me how to use all the electronic gadgets and devices in the apartment; the helpful apps: Uber, Google Maps, Canvas, and Canva. We explored the town together and created memories by attending events in groups, carpooling to and from. I recommend Rice Housing to new students. It was very beneficial to me. I made many lasting friends and memories.
The last and most unforgettable shock on my mind right now is the high cost of braiding hair in America. My goodness!!! Braiding hair at home in Nigeria is so inexpensive that no one ever thinks of DIY videos on YouTube. How can braiding hair cost as much as $200- $ 500 here, when we do it for as little as $10-$20 in Nigeria? This shock led me to buy wigs, beg friends who could braid to help me braid for little or no fee. At some point, I had to cut my hair so close to my scalp to escape these ridiculous, exorbitant prices, and also so I could stop disturbing my friends to help me out, too. Now, I have transitioned to braiding my own hair while learning from YouTube content creators. Braiding hair in this country is too expensive, and I keep wondering why. Why??? Why really??? Why???
About the author
Osinachi Okafor is a third-year Ph.D. student in Art History at Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA. She is currently a member of GSLAB (Graduate Student Library Advisory Board).
She got her B. A Fine and Applied Art at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria, in 2017, where she works as a graduate assistant and a co-curator of the XX Art Exhibition annually held at Awka Museum Foundation, Nigeria.
Further reading:
Grad School 101: Make visiting weekends work for you by Emily Elia.
Coming to Rice as an international student by Utana Umezaki.
Feeling at home in the U.S. by Rosa Guerra Resendez.