New country and Varied Cultures Tsai-Wen Sergio Dealing with cultural differences in another country can be challenging, social parameters are completely different within cultures. Click on one of the pictures on the right, and find out the stories behind their experiences, don't be surprised if yours is just one of them. Group Project Awkward Moment Nuha Terry Classroom Interaction Addressing a Professor

Tsai-Wen is an Asian student, who just came to the United States on a top Scholarship. According to the terms in her Scholarship she is only allowed to get one B during her entire Graduate Program.

Talking or staying quiet... Background Tsai-Wen was assigned to work with a group for the Midterm Project in one of her classs. Her group leader Allan, does not have enough time to fulfill the role as leader and as the time passes, nothing on the project has been organized. She wanted to talk during the last meeting they had, but was insecure to express her opinion. The Problem Tsai Wen is struggling on what to do, she knows she needs to get an A in this class. Deadline is just around the corner and the work needs to be done. What should Tsai Wen do?

Talking or staying quiet... Tsai-Wen talks to Ai one of her classmates right after class. She is curious about, how are other groups doing? Tsai-Wen: Ai, how are you? Do you have a minute? Ai: Sure, let´s walk, I have to get to the library. Tsai-Wen: I was just wondering how are you and your group doing in terms of the Midterm Project? Have you been able to meet and organize everything? Ai: It was difficult at the beginning, but Heidi our leader has been amazing! How is your group doing? Have you worked a lot? Tsai-Wen: No, we are not even half way through. I do not know what to do… Ai: Well, you need to do something soon. Deadline is just around the corner.

Tsai-Wen crucial decision... Here are the thoughts going through Tsai-Wen’s mind. Select an option you think is the best. Option 1 I will talk to the leader and ask him to send an email to schedule an emergency meeting today. Option 2 I will wait for the regular weekly meeting on Wednesday and talk to the whole group. Option 3 I decided to work on the project alone, this work needs to be done.

Let´s think beyond the options.. This is a good option, the leader will schedule a meeting and the work will probably get done on time. Waiting for so long might not be the best option. Even when you finally have the courage to say something, time may not be not enough. Taking all the responsibility is not a good option. Probably you will not sleep, you have other assignments and if the group gets a bad grade, what will they say?

Should I say No? Background Tsai-Wen chooses to send an email to Allan and asked him to schedule a emergency meeting. Allan kept complaining about how busy he is and the little time he has to organize everything. The group members said they are busy as well, but Tsai-Wen didn’t say anything. The Problem Tsai-Wen is also busy other homework as well. Tsai-Wen thinks Allan should be the one to do the leader’s work instead of pushing the work to others just because he is busy. What should she do to handle this situation?

Should I say No? The whole group is together for the meeting… Allan: Thanks to Tsai-Wen who sent the E mail requesting the Emergency meeting today, our deadline is Monday. I am sorry I have not been able to help a lot, but I have this big project in another class. Several members speak at once: Yeah, me too….Yeah, I got tons of work, I hope we get done soon I need to go back to another group. Allan: Tsai-Wen, why do not you help me out organize everything today, you can be sort of my assitant. What do you think guys? Several memebers speaking at once: Yeah, Tsai-Wen seems to have more time. Yeah, Tsai-Wen try it… Tsai-Wen: (Silence…)

Tsai-Wen crucial decision... Here are the thoughts going through Tsai-Wen’s mind. Select an option you think is the best. Option 1 I decided to see the Professor and complaint about the situation in her group. Option 2 I remained silent and took the extra workloads. Option 3 I told the whole group that everybody was busy and we had to distribute the work in the meeting.

Let´s think beyond the options... It is a risky decision. The professor might tell you to deal with this issue yourself and you still made no progress on the group project. You might end up exhausted and still couldn’t get the work done or couldn’t get a good grade. This is the best decision. Since everybody is very busy distributing the work in the meeting can ensure everybody to do their job.

Outcome Tsai-Wen decided to talk to the whole group in the meeting, there is no time to lose and they all have to get to work. She had to think about her grade also, having a scholarship is not easy; working in group is not easy but communicating and expressing your opinions is very important. Tsai-Wen understood that courage to speak is needed when you want to achieve your goals, also that people need to be reminded that working in group is a team effort. Click for more stories Click for additional resources Click to leave the program

Additional Resources Working on Common Cross-cultural Communication Challenges http://www.pbs.org/ampu/crosscult.html#TASKS Overcoming Culture Shock in the United States http://www.nova.edu/internationalstudents/affairs/forms/culture_shock.pdf