Welcome back students, staff and friends! As exciting as it is to be here at Willamette, it's natural to be disoriented, confused or frustrated when adjusting to a new semester, country or culture. This month we asked Willamette's International students to share their own experiences of "culture shock." This edition shows us some differences between the United States and our contributors home countries. Keep reading to learn about the true difference between America and the Czech Republic, differences in academics and dining customs, how to help TIUA students in a new culture, and the surprise of feeling at home at Willamette!
Continue reading "Spot the Differences"
When I first came to the Unites States as an exchange student during high school, for a long time, it seemed to me as though the biggest difference between the Czech Republic and the US is that you guys have peanut-butter and burritos and we don't.
Continue reading "Czech-France-US "
When we had our orientation sessions, we heard for the first time the words: "culture shock." Then everyone was asking about "culture shock": what is that? Am I am suffering it? Am I gonna suffer it?
Many people were sick or lost during the first weeks here because for most of them, it was their first time in a foreign country.
Continue reading "Culture Shock"
Coming from a Western country, I guess the ‘cultural shock’ I experienced when I first came to Willamette was not as strong and interesting as for someone coming from a very different environment. Let’s face it, we French people are not that different from Americans, are we?
Continue reading "Cultural shock from a French perspective "
The term culture shock describes the anxiety produced when a person moves to a completely new environment. This term expresses the lack of direction, the feeling of not knowing what to do or how to do things in a new environment, and not knowing what is appropriate or inappropriate. The feeling of culture shock generally sets in after the first few weeks of coming to a new place.
Continue reading "Back home: culture shock?!"
My first time in the U.S. was a long time ago. I was 5 years old and I honestly don't remember a lot. I know that I went to Orlando, FL and my family and I went to Disney World, and other different theme parks in the Orlando area in Florida. It was a magic experience for me but at the same time the only thing that I remember about my first experience was being completely overwhelmed by all the things that I was living and seeing. Mountains of food at the Restaurants, Ultra High Technology, Stores as big as football stadiums, cars as big as house- well, everything was bigger and "better" than in Ecuador, my home country. When I went back I talked to my friends day and night about every single thing that I did. I was excited, and at the same time sad because I was not in the US. anymore.
Continue reading "Culture Shock in the U.S.A."
I asked my German friend, what are the stereotypes of Japanese in Germany.
He said "Short" and "Camera."
I don't want to be viewed as a short person who always bring a camera, so I asked the same question to my another American friend and expected a better answer.
Continue reading "TIUA students are coming"
February, 2003. Fearing for my life because of the taxi driver's bravado on a highway. Moscow, Russia : 25 degrees Fahrenheit, sleet on the roads. Within 24 hours, I find myself on a different planet: flower beds with rhododendrons getting ready to slowly go into shy, not yet full, bloom, and green lawns on which people in summer clothes are walking their ferrets on leashes. Welcome to Dayton, Oregon: 51 degrees Fahrenheit.
Continue reading "What culture shock?"
