moving to US

[merivo]

Hi! 

I'm accepted to NYU and I'm going to move to US. I have a Russian/European/Israeli background and I've never been to US. I have many American friends here (in Israel) but I expect that it is very different there (in US). I'm both thrilled and quite intimidated. 

What would you recommend to me and people like me who are going to live in US as grad students? What to expect? How to prepare? What are the dos and donts? I will be thankful for any advice given. 

(I hope I'm asking a right question in the right place; if not so, please delete this message. Sorry!) 

[ExponentialDecay]

Ahhh Jewish Studies in New York is amazing! You'll have lots of academics opportunities and inspiration available to you. 

There isn't a lot of special or specific advice. Make sure you know the terms of your visa, be well-prepared for your first border control, get a USD bank account, and try not to get shafted with the rent in New York, I suppose. Take a winter jacket. Obviously, the more arrangements are finalized before you move, the better. 

And if you're interested in Yiddish culture, make sure to visit the Yiddish Book Center in Western MA.

[sjoh197]

No real advice on the technical aspects of moving to the US... however, I will mention that the US is very very  very diverse... sometimes in very close spaces. Many states/cities are incredibly unique, and sometimes you wouldn't even think you're in the same collective country. New York is massive, and has its own cultural realms... but if you have the opportunity to travel while you are here... do it. California is so much different than the east coast, or the mid-west cow country, or the deep south. Lots of variety. 

As for what You should do... just be friendly. There are so many cultural varieties here that at some point everyone will be offended by something, so there's no point in tip-toeing around what you do. Just be nice. Also... although New York is a little different because of the population density, most Americans are very aware of their personal space and they don't typically want strangers invading it. I don't know how that is in Israel, but many countries do not have the same definition or awareness of personal space. 

[fuzzylogician]

Some pointers for various aspects of moving to the US below. There's lots more if you search this forum. 

 

[merivo]

@ExponentialDecay — thank you very much) These things all must be done. I haven't thought about bank account and other stuff you mentioned. I will start to prepare. 

And special thanks about the Yiddish Center! I'll try to visit it!

@sjoh197 thank you! I was living in Russia and sometimes you get there the same impression: why all this divergence bear one name? 

I must admit that I've heard many stories about stereotypical Russian scholars who got to US and because they don't know how to behave quickly got problems (there are tons of such stories; maybe an anthropologist should write a work on this topic). I thought as you do: be nice and don't harass other people borders, but I couldn't help not to ask) 

Originally I'm from Latvia, and there everything is quite "cold". You don't expect people to be very close and for me Israel is "too harassing" in some way. Personal space is set nearer that in Latvia. On the other hand, religious people sometimes may be even more distanced. So I think I've went through some sort of "school" here. But thank you for the advice! I will try to be aware of this.

 @fuzzylogician thank you sooo much! I'll improve my searching skills on this forum. And thanks for the useful links!