By Can Chen

As a Chinese person who came to USA the first time, I am impressed by so many differences between the two cultures and environments. Here are a few of them:

1 - People are so sweet. Almost every person I meet in the lanes in downtown Ames or the campus will say "Hello, how are you doing?" to me with big smiles. I am flattered, but am not used to it because I do not get the sweet greetings from people walking in my hometown. This is maybe because there are so many people you can meet in streets that it is impossible for us to greet each other in China. However, the kind atmosphere really makes me feel warm in my heart, especially after I just arrived.

I realize that greeting to a stranger, even a foreigner, is a culture and politeness. If it is a few people or social elites, it is not strange. But it is a common phenomenon that shows high moral quality and well education of the people in the state. It should be learned by all the countries in the world; not only the politeness but also the kindness and peace.

2 – It is so quiet on weekends. Unlike noisy weekends on the streets of China, it is so quiet at Ames. There are hardly people walking except some runners and dog-walkers on sidewalks. People share their weekends with their family members. Weekends are rest time for most people but not working time. Even most stores are not open or open only for short time during weekends. In China weekends are the busiest time for stores because they can earn much money from so many crowds of people flocking to the stores for shopping. However, I like the quiet and the peaceful sceneries on a beautiful weekend. Not only can I take a rest but also can find peace in the heart by myself.

3 - There is no break at noon. The work time usually lasts from 8am to 4pm or 5:30pm, and there is no break at noon. In China, we often take one or two hours to break or have lunch during the mid-working time so that some workers could take a small nap or obtain some services, especially from the government. Here obtaining services is not a problem. I think it is the customs differ between countries, although the total working hours they spend are the same.

4 - Food is cheap. The food is cheap, especially in the super market. People can get a lot food with very little money in comparison with their income. People don't worry about the cost of food. Iowa is a state famous for agriculture. One day when I visited a farm I found that a farmer could feed 800 cattle by only himself, and also raised corn and soybean. I was really shocked and I know why the food is so inexpensive. In fact, food is the basic of people's life. Safe and enough food provided for the people, with a rational price, shows the greatness of a country. In this respect, it is certain that America is a great country.

5 - The sky is so beautiful. The first surprise Ames gave to me, indeed, is the amazing sky with no or little clouds floating there leisurely. I grew up in a city where it is a basin and often rains, and the environment is not as well as in Ames. So I have never seen so clean a sky before. The pure, blue, big and deep sky of course is part of the result of the big flat land of Iowa. But the good and not polluted environment is the key reason.

6 - The air is so clean and the water could be drunk directly from a fountain or tap. Like the clean sky, the air is so clean that I don't need to polish my leather shoes every day as often; which is what I usually do in China for there is dust everywhere. The clean air combined with clean drinking water is a benefit for people's health. There are also so many public drinking fountains, which is really convenient. One thing I am not used to is that all the default water is so cold, because I’m used to drinking warm water for many years in China.

7 - The winter is really cold outside but warm inside. Winter in Ames was a little hard for me at the beginning because I come from a subtropical city, where it almost never snows. Here it is cold outside and the winter lasts too long for me. However, it is really warm inside because there are heaters everywhere. In fact, the winter impressed me very much once I got used to the cold and the big differences of temperatures between inside and outside. After adapting to the temperature, I found that winter may be a good season for thinking.

8 - The management of a lab. Here the management of a lab is usually specialized and effective. Special people are responsible for their own things and all things run on their own ways. All the managements are worth learning by other countries. I am very lucky to have an opportunity to attend the weekly meetings of the LESEM Lab. I really appreciate Lisa and other lab member’s help. I will bring some of what I learned about lab management to China, such as implementing more meetings almost every week to discuss more with co-workers and students and so on.

A new environment is often full of curiosities and differences for a newcomer. However I don't know if I’ve gotten so used to my new environment in Ames that when I go back to China I will need to re-adapt. Ha ha!

Dr. Can Chen was a visiting scholar in the Department Natural Resource Ecology and Management at Iowa State University between November 2012 and 2013.  He is a lecturer in Forestry at Fujian A&F University in China. He focuses on urban green-belt landscapes and coastal protection through forests in Fujian province in China.