Question
Write a narrative of approximately 700 words about an important event in your life. Select a topic from the assigned readings or choose a topic of your own. Focus on the main event. Consider the main point you want to make and why it is worth sharing with your readers. Use subjective description to make the events seem real to readers. Arrange the information in an order that makes sense. It can be chronological, or your narrative might begin in the middle and then fill in the beginning with flashbacks. Use transitions that help the reader understand the order of events.
* Reference: My story. pdf is about my Background information (I came from south korea, I’m a berklee college of music student, I play the piano )
Another file is comparison between my country and U.S. culture that I wrote
So my main event in this essay is that I came here to America.
Sample paper
Narrative essay
Every individual coming to America has that American dream in them with hope for the future. However, coming to America might not be much fun and enjoyable as most individuals would imagine and like. To some people, life in American can exceed their expectations and become enjoyable and fun while to others it can fall far way below their expectations to become hectic. Having come to America as a young man, I have found it difficult to adjust to American culture. I have been living in America for the last eight months after I won a scholarship to join Harvard business school in Boston, Massachusetts. Before being fully assimilated into the American culture, most of my fellow students used to laugh at me whenever I made a mistake or did something that they were not familiar with. I was on Korea twenty-nine years ago, and the following are some of the noticeable differences between Korean and American culture.
Respect is one of the core pillars of Korean society. Despite the America culture having some preservation for respect for those in power and the elders, it cannot be compared to what Koreans feel about respect. In Korean culture, the youths have to bow down when addressing their elder. On special days such as 1st January of every year, the younger people especially boys have to kneel down on both knees when addressing the elders. On the other hand, girls have to down on one knee when wishing their elders a happy new year. This is a sign of respect that should be observed by all Koreans. Moreover, children are totally prohibited from refereeing to their elders by their names (De, 2012). However, this is totally different in America as people have their own way of showing their respects. In America, the young generation uses words such as Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir or Ma’am to address their seniors (Campbell & Kean, 2016). Fort the first few months I was caught up between the two cultures, and as a result, I would address my teachers and the elderly bowing down while at the same time using respectable words such as sir and ma’am.
Another major difference in cultures that I noticed in these two cultures is the eating habits. Most American citizens are known to like fast food from restaurants mainly because they are busy working. However, this is not the case in Korea as most people treasure healthy eating full of natural and healthy food. One of the favorable dishes among most Koreans is rice and a side dish of kimchi. Kimchi is considered as one of the healthiest dishes in the world today as it only contains natural food. However, the dish is not common among many Americans due to its strong garlic flavor (De, 2012). To my surprise, most of my colleagues preferred to take fast food rather than taking a considerable amount of time to prepare a good meal. To many, pizzas, chicken, chips and burgers were good enough to take them all day long. For the first few months, it was difficult for me to eat and enjoy the fast food, but later on, I came to like them considering that most of the restaurants in Boston did not and did not prepare Korean food. I had to adapt and fit in my new community and society.
The other major difference between the two cultures that I have experienced during my stay in America is the mode of entertainment adopted by college students. During their free days especially at the weekend, most students in Korea gather in entertainment rooms within their schools to watch movies and to share meals. Moreover, most Korean universities if not all have PC rooms where students go to enjoy fast internet at a little fee of about one dollar for an hour. However, this is not the case in American universities. Come Friday night and Saturday; it is hard to find any student within the school compound as most of them go to night clubs till the morning light (Campbell & Kean, 2016). Additionally, the current crop of university students in America are obsessed with video games and most of the times, the students lock their selves in their rooms with their friends and play these games. These video games are not common in Korea. Differences in culture from one country to another can be hectic especially to people who are not willing to give up their indigenous practices for new ones. Although it was tough for me to live the American way, it was a matter of time before I became fully assimilated into this culture.
References
Campbell, N., & Kean, A. (2016). American cultural studies: An introduction to american culture. London [etc.: Routledge.
De, M. B. (2012). The Korean mind: Understanding contemporary Korean culture. Tokyo: Tuttle Pub.
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