One thing Nairaland has taught me; I have learned that so many Nigerians living in Nigeria want anything BUT Nigeria. Some make it a lifelong MISSION to come to America where they "believe" it is the "LAND OF THE FREE" and "ANYONE" can make it. These Nigerians save and save and hustle to DO ANYTHING to come to "America" / Yankee. They give up EVERYTHING they ever had or knew to come and "enjoy" greener pastures (or so their TVs informed them). However 5 years into staying in America they realize that Life was more manageable than they could ever imagine in America. Here are some pointers on the REAL AMERICA, to those living in America feel free to add in.


1. America is NOT FUN when you do not know anybody. If you are coming here "on your own" and THINK you can easily "settle down", think again. You need an address at the airport and almost everything you need to do here requires an address. Ekene your "guy" from primary 6 can only allow you stay in his house for so long before he will require you to pay rent. Tosin your paddy from Lagos is not going to be your guide forever which leads to the next bit

2.Nothing is free in America. Absolutely nothing. DO NOT expect Okwudili to give you a ride to work, he will ask you for gas money. You are either going to join Okwudili in "hustling" or get your own life, which you will learn is HARD especially for immigrants.

3. Life is toughER for Immigrants in America. From not having a SSN to get jobs, to people simply discriminating for your "accent". You will LEARN that America is not the least bit tolerant for immigrants. Especially if you come to places that are predominantly white. Unfortunately what I end up seeing Nigerians adopt is the "akata" way. A LOT of them end up trying to speak ebonics and they just sound stupid and ridiculous. "nigggaz is tryna hoop yo". No. Your azz never hooped before when did you become a "niggga tryna hoop"?


4. Dressing. Appearance is EVERYTHING [img]http://loladesowoolu.files./2011/02/dis-n-dart-eldee.jpg[/img]

These are NOT, repeat, NOT "american" dressing. The earlier you learn the better. The "americans" who dress that way are SEVERELY DISCRIMINATED AND MARGINALIZED in society. Sure you may say, well the "wealthy" american hiphop stars dress that way....Guess what. Those who do are DISCRIMINATED against. Don't believe me - check...a lot end up in jail etc. The "REAL wealthy ones" a la Jay z and Sean Combs DO NOT, dress that way. A word is enough for the wise.

[img]http://static4.fjcdn.com/comments/3952559+_32f833b5d94d8672fba5fa70599ca54b.jpg[/img]

5. You learn quickly that America is NOT the land of the free and get crammed up with "the rest" so 5 years in you start to fight hard to PROVE you are not like "THEM". You get mad when people say you are "black"

[img]http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Black+People+Problems.+This+is+a+repost+but+of+my_906b64_3952559.jpg[/img] [img]http://static4.fjcdn.com/comments/Or+belts+_82040ac9119c9baf304ec6a77f453fec.jpg[/img]

6. The America on TV is NOT the same as the REAL America. The skyscrapers and beautiful scenes from Tv shows and movies are just in a few places. Downtown, NYC, Miami, LA, DC. Just like you have SOME VERY beautiful places in Abuja, and Lagos. The real america, sometimes looks like this

[img]http://swordattheready.files./2013/07/black-ghetto.jpg[/img]
(this is actually a GOOD picture of NY) ask


Bmore


[img]http://4.bp..com/-Jj_rbhvlrxc/TwdyQ7MMhHI/AAAAAAAACtI/8iJR4M2NiGA/s1600/baltimore%2Bghetto.jpg[/img]
Miami
MIAMI
Miami
Florida
LA
Oakland California
Atlanta
Atlanta
Washington DC, couple blocks from the White House, you can see this mess from the white house

*space bought*

Reserved

More please

Now this is what YOU SEE on TV

[img]http://2.bp..com/-luCIAAwaXT8/T-V0AFMyUbI/AAAAAAAAAnY/dR0RNMcRFPM/s640/May+077.jpg[/img] DC, few blocks from the DC above

DC

Atlanta, Skyline from Buckhead. Buckhead is an extremely affluent area located north of downtown atlanta where the major streets are Peachtree St, Piedmont Rd, and Pharr Rd. Buckhead is infested with sky lofts, high-rise condos and nightclubs. North Buckhead has many multi-million dollar houses. HOWEVER, if you DARE venture into South Buckhead prepare to loose your life. Summerhill is SOUTH Buckhead here is what it looks like

[img]http://o2.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/format/jpg/quality/82/resize/438x295/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/99bbfaea8291528b99af203524f6e3d2[/img] So on one end you have thhe lovely "buckhead" (barely ever reffered to as "north" and across the water on the far end of the other side is that. Welcome to America, where a ghetto is 2 blocks from the VERY RICH.

Park Avenue NY

Now this is what YOU SEE on TV

[img]http://2.bp..com/-luCIAAwaXT8/T-V0AFMyUbI/AAAAAAAAAnY/dR0RNMcRFPM/s640/May+077.jpg[/img] DC, few blocks from the DC above

DC

Atlanta, Skyline from Buckhead. Buckhead is an extremely affluent area located north of downtown atlanta where the major streets are Peachtree St, Piedmont Rd, and Pharr Rd. Buckhead is infested with sky lofts, high-rise condos and nightclubs. North Buckhead has many multi-million dollar houses. HOWEVER, if you DARE venture into South Buckhead prepare to loose your life. Summerhill is SOUTH Buckhead here is what it looks like

[img]http://o2.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/format/jpg/quality/82/resize/438x295/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/99bbfaea8291528b99af203524f6e3d2[/img] So on one end you have thhe lovely "buckhead" (barely ever reffered to as "north" and across the water on the far end of the other side is that. Welcome to America, where a ghetto is 2 blocks from the VERY RICH.

Park Avenue NY

Park Avenue is a very luxurious "street". It runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east. The street was formerly called Fourth Avenue for its entire length, and is still called that below 14th Street; between 17th Street and 32nd Street it is called Park Avenue South. Businesses like Ferrari, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Maserati, Mercedes Benz, Heineken, Vivendi, KPMG and British Airways have their HEADQUARTERS here.

Good. Now almost literally across the bridge is "the other Park Avenue" . This one doesn't make it on TV. You can see the skyscrappers literally on the other end. On That side Maserati has its building while on this side people live on less than $1 a day.
"the other Park Avenue" MEANWHILE Oyinkan Abayomi Drive ( formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos is ranked one of the most expensive streets in the world. And ABuja and Lagos rank in most expensive cities in the world.

@Post

OP, God bless you for this thread. You see, America had been my residence for almost 14 years. I remember when I was coming to America in the late 90s, friends in Europe warned me not to go but I stubbornly did not listen because I was carried away by what I saw on MTV and BET. When I arrived in the USA, my eye come clear. America is nothing like what she portrays herself to be. Infact, America brings out the worst in people oftentimes. You see people asking their family relatives to pay rent even though said family relative(s) is/are unemployed. You see some Nigerians calling immigration on their fellow Nigerians who have not yet sorted out their immigration palaver. You see some Nigerians spending the whole paycheck of their fellow family member who had just migrated to America and had just started working.

Most Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. Debt is a huge issue. Most Americans have mortgage loans, car loans, student loans, credit card debts, infact, 'gbese' all the way. Without credit cards, most Americans cannot survive. The American society is largely a debt-driven society. They encourage you to get into debt so that you can have a credit history. Without a credit history, you can't do much in America.

The racism is something else in America as well. You walk into a store and the whites think you want to steal. Sometimes they stalk you. The average american will harass you because of your accent, your African name, and threat you like crap once they find out that you come from a 3rd world country or from Africa. In America, you have nice neighborhoods and then you have the run down, crime-ridden neighborhoods which you find mostly in the inner cities. Many neighborhoods that have mostly black people and Latino residents in them are poverty-stricken but not all of course. Many neighborhoods are racially segregated especially in New York city.

Overall, America is just there. I truly believe that there are other more tolerant advanced societies an African immigrant can live a good life in. One just has to search. However, as for me, USA just ain't it. Yes, you have constant electricity, water, fast internet access, good universities and the likes. But, the average American will always remind you that you are not part of them no matter how long you reside in the USA and that is the gospel truth. I know some Nigerians will come on this thread and start defending America like their roots lie in that country or like that lives depended on it. However, I believe in telling it as it is. Many Nigerians love lying anyway so that they can keep boosting to their relatives in Nigeria and making themselves feel relevant. The truth however must be told so that people who wish to migrate to USA can make an informed decision. Shalom!