DEPARTED FROM
Mersin, Turkey
ARRIVED IN
Orlando, Florida
YEAR
2010
AGE
21
NOW LIVES IN
Austin, Texas
My high school and university education was all English majors. I studied American Culture and Literature as my BA degree. So I wanted to practice American Culture in real life and decided to come here through a Disney internship.
It was a long connecting flight for me. I was with couple of my college friends. It was my first flight and international experience ever. During my trip, I got sick after I arrived to the USA. I was feeling really bad and my friends helped me recover. I was even thinking about going back to my country just because of that trip.
After I arrived to Orlando, my whole impression changed. I felt better and I liked the country. USA seemed to be full of every kind of people. They were cool, helpful and easygoing.
The weather seemed too humid and hot in Orlando at first. I got used to it quickly because it was similar to my hometown’s.
I noticed that drivers were very respectful to pedestrians. When I stepped out of the pavement, drivers always stopped beforehand. I guess this is not a common thing in Europe streets. Self-service is another thing I’d like to mention. We have self-service in some places in my country but it is not that common. It is completely different here. You get your food and drink yourself, sometimes you even need to clean up afterwards. Another interesting thing is glass sizes. When you drink something, they offer you which size of glass you want even though it is a refill glass. I had wondered what’s the point of this because you could drink unlimitedly. Then I thought maybe some people were too lazy to move.
We met some Disney employees after we arrived. They helped us move to our new apartment and they completed our paperwork. I met my roommates and moved to my new room. They were college students like me. Some of them were international and it was great to share our cultural experience together. We sometimes cooked at home and we tried our different and cultural foods. I also ate American food which is basically fast food when I did not have any time for cooking. During my off days, it was great to visit Disney parks for free. I also went to other theme parks in Orlando. I spent my time mostly in Downtown Disney. Additionally, I visited big shopping malls and experienced the city life.
