SELT Professional Development Event Working with International Students  8:00 – 8:30 Breakfast  8:30 – 9:00 International Students Present  9:00 – 9:30 Staff Exercise and Stages of Acclimation to a new culture  9:30 – 10:00 Q & A

Student Presenters Sean Bowers – SJU Student, Northern Ireland Leigh Cabral – CSB Student, Trinidad and Tobago An Doan – CSB Student, Vietnam Savo Heleta – SJU Student, Bosnia-Herzegovina Herbert Rodriguez – SJU Student, Costa Rica

Complete the form you have been given and follow these instructions: 1. Write from right to left 2. Write very clearly. Sloppy writing will be discarded 3. Fill in every blank 4. For #2, use the Moslem calendar, which begins July 16, A.D Do not answer #7 unless you have a green and-white-card. 6. Complete this task within three minutes 7. Ask no questions

The Five Stages of Culture Shock

Honeymoon Period.  The term culture shock is a term that is often used to refer to the adjustment process that occurs when a student goes to live in a foreign country. Upon arrival, the student feels happy and interested learning about the new country and language. This is called the honeymoon period.

Culture Shock  After the honeymoon period, things begin to get more stressful. The student will begin to feel the absence of familiar friends, places, language and family. The student will often become extremely critical of the new culture and may need to ask for help to do many simple things that the student could do very easily and quickly at home. The student usually feels very frustrated at small inconveniences and will often shun friends from the host country. This period is what is usually referred to as culture shock because of the frustration and the effect that this period has one the individual’s psychological and physical well-being. During this stage, individuals will tend to feel unhappy or depressed and get sick more easily.

First Adjustment  The next stage is first adjustment. This is when a student can take care of daily needs such as shopping for food, getting mail, going to the bank, and so on. Life becomes easier. However, the individual stills feels lonely and isolated from family and friends which can be very stressful.

Mental Isolation.  Mental isolation. The time period for this stage is very unpredictable. Some students move through this stage quickly, while others, sadly, can be at this stage for years or never leave it. The people who stay at this stage have no desire to learn anything about their new culture or the people from their host country.

Acceptance and Integration.  If all goes well, the student who is adjusting to a new culture will move out of isolation and into the final stage of cultural adjustment – acceptance and integration. The student will set up a schedule for doing work or study; make friends from the new culture and show an interest in learning even more about the host country, beyond what is needed to survive.

Culture Bumps "A culture bump occurs when a person has expectations of a particular behavior and gets something different when interacting with individuals from another culture." Expectations, as used in the definition, refer to the expectations of “normal” behavior as learned in one’s own culture. While living in another culture, we find some things that are the same as in our own country. In these instances, the two cultures fit together. However, there are other things that are different. The points at which the two cultures differ or "bump into each other" are usually the areas that interfere in the development of successful cross-cultural relationships. If the specific points of difference, or culture bumps, are analyzed, they can lead to a deeper understanding. If they are not analyzed, they can lead to stereotypes of people in the other culture.

Keys to Good Communication in Working with International Students  Strive to pronounce students’ names correctly  Learn about the students background/country and culture  Respect personal space  Learn the cultural rules about touching  Establish rapport  Ask Questions  Listen to the Answers  Appreciate and use silence “pause time”  Notice eye contact  Pay attention to body movements  Note responses  Don’t be afraid to say “No”, “Could you please repeat that”, or “Could you talk slower, I am having a hard time understanding your accent”

Handouts  Country/Culture information  Culture Bumps definition  Intercultural Communication conclusions  Common Adjustment Issues for International Students

Thank you for your time!  Lynda Fish, Academic Advisor, International Students  Addy Spitzer, Interim International Student Program Director