As our group of film making specialists was heading to the U.S for the professional development internship, we got our first impressions of the American people and culture on the London-Chicago flight, operated by American Airlines on February 4th. Never before on any other airline had we seen a middle aged flight attendant, and the mere realization of the fact that the U.S. really promotes equal opportunities for all genders, ages and races was a pleasant gateway for our explorations on the professional and cultural journey. As we landed, the surprises of the unfamiliar culture continued to embrace and educate us.

We enjoyed seeing Americans smile and greet everybody, no matter whether they knew one another, they are locals or foreigners. The American parks with flags representing all countries of the world created a genuine sense of connectedness in us, and nourished the value of cross-cultural understanding.

Along with noticing these differences, we were excited to observe common cultural aspects: when you express your thanks to an American, the answer is: you are welcome. In Armenia, particularly in the city of Gyumri, the expression of your appreciation is the same: welcome.

We had brought different souvenirs with us for our host families, the host organization, and the people who we were going to meet with. Many Armenians love bells as these symbolize good tidings for us, so our group had brought bells made of clay as gifts. We were planning to present the International Visitors Council of Philadelphia with one of the bells but surprisingly, they were the first to present us with small bells right on the first day of our arrival. It was there that we learned that bells were the symbols of Philadelphia, and many years ago the tinkling of bells declared Philadelphia’s independence.

Such culturally coincidental “small discoveries” helped us to better identify with the American culture and establish closer bonds between us and the Americans.

We expected that Armenians are well known in the U.S., especially in California. However, we were pleasantly taken by surprise to learn that Armenians are well known in Philadelphia as well, especially among the business people. After learning that we are Armenians, the staff of “New Hollywood” studio of Norristown, one of the institutions that we visited, immediately contacted their colleague in New York, who greeted us in Armenian. It was so exciting! The feeling of friendship grew even fonder when the African-American guard at Rodent museum, after hearing us speaking Armenian, asked us in Russian if we were from the former Soviet Union.

“We are from the Soviet Union, Armenia”, we replied, confident that he wouldn’t have heard about Armenia before.
- Yerevan? [which is the capital of Armenia], asked he with a wide smile. And then it turned out that he had lived in Russia for a long time and that he has some Armenian friends there.

Well, friendship works well, but we believe that people can understand each other without words. I am not sure that Jeffie Abbott, my American “mom”, knew about this simple truth. However, it was obvious that my little English was more than sufficient for us to interact and understand each other. I remember the night when I was watching an American movie with Clint Eastwood on one of the local channels. I could not understand the words, but I didn’t care much as I could easily guess their meaning. However, my host mother sat next to me and started to translate it from English into English, putting it in her own words. And it worked!

This wonderful cultural mosaic born from our U.S. Community Connections program visit is indeed rich with many recollections. These stories make us laugh and smile as we remember them. It brings us a unique feeling of friendship with our American counterparts as one of the program’s most valuable legacies. We hope to share the fond recollections and our smiles with our American hosts when they visit us in Armenia, as they have promised to do.

Welcome to Armenia, dear friends!

Astghik Simonyan