"Cash Flow"

When I was in Cambodia, I was totally dependent on my family to support my study and living. It is not our culture to leave home, unless our college is too far to get to. However, usually, teenagers are financially dependent on their parents until they are employed after graduates. I find it totally different from students here in the United States. They are financially independent, at least to some extent. Because I am at USI on a scholarship exchange program sponsored by the US Department of States, my life style hasn’t changed much with the financial matters.

I am here on a J-1 visa, thus I am not allowed to do any paid-job. Yet, I have to study hard to ensure my monthly allowance. I also have to write Bi-weekly report, answer monitoring phone call so on and so forth. I also have to volunteer with the community at least 10 hours for Fall semester. Literally, I am required to do it, but I am more than happy to get involved with Evansville community as I regularly did volunteer work back home. Plus, it is good for me to contribute something to American society since they have already given a lot to my country.

Also, I have all my meal plans and munch money for everyday meals and other necessity in campus. So there is not much stuffs I have to get with my pocket money from my program.

Nevertheless, I am still cautious with the budget when shopping off campus. In my country, goods are cheap; in contrast, almost everything is expensive. In Cambodia, I usually went out to eat or shop with my friends twice a week. For I am totally by myself here, I need to be exceptionally thrifty especially with eating out and buying stuffs. Goods at Wal-Mart are cheap, but in my country they are even cheaper. Still, no matter how economical I try with my budget, my cash still flows easily like river.

Also, there are some other times which I have to spend money. I am the socialized-type of person, spending my free time dining out with friends or going to the movies. During break like Thanksgiving or other long breaks, I would go out of Evansville to visit other cities. It would the time when I spend the most money. Last time in Chicago, I spent almost 30o dollars just for 4 days. The sum might not be that much for American, but for a student like me, it is definitely a huge sum. In the near future, that is for Winter break, I am going to spend like 3 weeks in Boston and New York and I am sure that I will spend a lot of money on that as well. If I am not careful, I bet that I will be in a huge financial trouble.

My study at USI is financially supported, so does my living. My allowance is not that much, but just enough for me if I am cautious with my budget. Hence, my lifestyle does not change much before coming to USI because I was also financially dependent on my family. The difference is that I have to be careful enough not to let my socializing activities cost too much that I would end up do not have enough money to spend on everyday living.