What were your most difficult adjustments?

[Lily]

listen to the accent of some Chinese people, who are perfectly marketable in the U.S.   you just had some mean classmates in Chicago.

I think that I had not mean but outright classmates in Chicago  They probably just would not put me on equal foot with Chinese but with themselves.

[Rutherford]

Similar experiences with my wife .

She loves bread  (  I think it's poison , heavily processed ) and  we found a bread maker/machine  in a home we bought , she wnated to toss it into the garbage   ,I tucked it away for several months  then drug it out and tried it ,she  loved it , we quickly realized it was easier to buy bread  at  super market  and not the  bread machine is  tucked away again  , it'll be in our next  garage sale , I hope .

I have brought  home quality wholewheat  bread  but she doesn't like it  , prefers white .
My wife says all food in America is better then Russian food , took her a few months  to say this 

RR

My wife misses the people. It is like a ghost town here in the evening when we go for walks in our suburban town. Nobody is even outside on their patio's in the Summer. They all seem to have grills but do not use them. Even I can't explain why. We eat outside whenever we get the chance.

Right before she came here she asked me how long was the walk to the grocery store 

She also misses the bread so we try to go to a Russian store when we get the chance. I have a breadmaker and just got it out from the basement yesterday to experiment.

And she misses the chance to have a good Russian friend but we are getting closer on that problem. There are a few Russians nearby but she does not care for them.

[mies]

I think that I had not mean but outright classmates in Chicago  They probably just would not put me on equal foot with Chinese but with themselves.

what are you trying to say?
"marketable = being in demand by especially employers; "marketable skills" "
by definition, "marketable" is used to identify equality in being desired by employers. So if chinese are "marketable" - it means they are competitors of american job solicitors, and are equal to americans, not inferior.  
Though both your classmates and you may be right, I don't know what is your major. Maybe in your field an accent is a deal-breaker.

Though I did not expect you to be a racist, Lily. I'm quite upset to see your reaction.