This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Christina Hazel, a 23-year-old American woman who was born in France and grew up in Tunisia. She shares her experience moving back to the US for college. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I was born in France and moved to Tunisia — the northernmost country in Africa — with my parents when I was two years old. My parents were originally from South Carolina and relocated for a job opportunity.
Despite holding an American passport, I consider Tunisia my home. People mostly speak Arabic in Tunisia, although over 50% of the population is also fluent in French. I attended a French school.
Living abroad, I wasn't that familiar with the US — it actually wasn't until 8th grade that I learned the names of all 50 states. I still have a hard time identifying them on a map.
Over the years, many Americans have told me that they've never heard of Tunisia. Once, a girl asked me if I lived in a mud hut, had electricity, and rode a giraffe to school. I had to explain that I lived in an apartment building similar to where she lived, had access to the same TV shows she did, and had never even seen a giraffe before. Tunisia is an Arab country on the Mediterranean that boasts beautiful beaches, the largest mosaic museum in the world, Carthaginian ruins, and Star Wars filming locations.
I moved to the US in 2018 for the first time and spent four years attending Columbia International University in South Carolina. It was there that I experienced culture shock. There were so many differences between the US and Tunisia, from how people dressed to their punctuality.
When I graduated from college, I decided to move back to Tunisia with my husband — who's also from South Carolina — to be reunited with my family. Here are four things that surprised me about the US when I lived there.