Expectations 

For many students, studying abroad will be their first time in another country and an extraordinary opportunity to learn about another part of the world from firsthand experience. Cultural immersion—interacting and living with people in other cultures—is an important part of the study abroad experience. Studying overseas is at once a stimulating and distracting experience. For some students, experiential education is cause for anxiety and apprehension; for others, it is a challenge to be met and an experience that will be valued and cherished for a lifetime.

As a study abroad student, you should know beforehand what to expect from your study abroad program as well as what is expected from you in the classroom, particularly in regard to academic objectives. Educating yourself before your departure is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for what to expect overseas. OIA pre-departure orientation meetings will help you understand specific program goals and direct you to resources and web sites about your host country. If you are participating in an Ohio State co-sponsored or an international exchange program, then you should become familiar with the academic policies of your host institution and the day-to-day academic routine you can expect. You should discuss any concerns or questions you have about the academic program with your Study Abroad coordinator.

While abroad, you are expected to participate fully and enthusiastically in your study abroad program, to attend all classes and to participate in all program activities, including in-country program field trips, excursions, and other group activities. Many Ohio State sponsored programs involve extensive travel and field study excursions. Students should be prepared to be flexible in the event that an unpredicted change in an itinerary or a health problem arises. An unforeseen emergency can be disruptive. Being able to “go with the flow” and to adapt to change is part of the study abroad experience.
 

Educate yourself

It is critical to begin now to learn about the country where you will be studying abroad. The more research you do about the host country’s political system, culture, customs, and language, the better prepared you will be for living in and understanding the host society. Some ways of educating yourself include:

• Read pertinent foreign newspapers and periodicals at University Libraries.
• Read the New York Times, Miami Herald, Christian Science Monitor, and other newspapers or magazines with extensive international coverage.
• Listen to radio stations that provide international news coverage, such as National Public Radio.
• Visit area bookstores or your local library to explore their international travel sections.
• Check the Wexner Center for the Arts film series, which frequently shows international films. The Drexel Theatres in Columbus also show many international films.
• Meet former participants from your study abroad program. Ask your coordinator for names of former participants.
• Talk with people who are originally from that country or have lived there for an extended period of time. There are approximately 3,600 international students at Ohio State, some of whom may be from the country you are going to visit.
• Review the most recent Consular Information Sheet and/or current Travel Warnings and Public Announcements issued by the U.S. State Department on your host country. This information can be viewed at travel.state.gov.

Cultural adjustment

Living in a new country and culture can be exciting, fulfilling, and stimulating. It can also be frustrating and confusing. “Culture shock” is the term used to describe the difficulties experienced as you integrate into a new society and deal with the many emotions that come from adapting to a new culture. Culture shock is a natural reaction to leaving your familiar surroundings and finding yourself in an almost unknown environment where many things are unfamiliar. Culture shock has two distinctive features:

1. It does not result from a specific event or series of events. It comes instead from the experience of encountering ways of doing, organizing, perceiving, or valuing things that are radically different from yours.
2. It does not strike suddenly or have a single principal cause. Instead, it is cumulative. It builds up slowly from a series of small events, which are difficult to identify.
   –From Survival Kit for Overseas Living by L. Robert Kohls

As a person about to live in another country, it is reasonable to assume that you may experience some degree of culture shock as you adjust and adapt to your new environment. The language, the food, the situations of daily life, and the way things look are not what you are used to. If you experience some degree of culture shock, do not despair. You are in good company! Many people experience new and conflicting emotions as they live cross-culturally. No two people, however, experience culture shock in the exact same way. Some might experience it after a few days in the new country, others not until a few months into the stay, and others may never experience it. Culture shock varies from individual to individual.
 

Cultural adaptation phases

Culture shock can be expressed in a variety of ways: intense homesickness, irritability, hyper-critical thoughts, sadness, fear, and frustration. Studies in intercultural education have shown that there are distinct phases of personal adjustment that virtually everyone who lives abroad experiences. These stages are:

General Attitude: Anticipation, eagerness, nervousness
Events: Planning, packing, processing, celebrating, attending orientation
Emotional Response: Excitement, enthusiasm, concern about leaving family and familiar environment, desire to escape problems
Behavioral Response: Anticipation, loss of interest in current responsibilities
Physical Response: Tiredness, generally normal health
Verbal Response: “I just can’t wait to…”

General Attitude: Exhilaration, excitement
Events: Red carpet welcome, new home stay or dorm, new classes and teachers, exploration of sights and shops
Emotional Response: Tourist enthusiasm, sense of adventure
Behavioral Response: Outward curiosity about country, avoiding negative stereotypes, enthusiasm for studies and site, passive observer of culture
Physical Response: Intestinal disturbances, minor insomnia
Verbal Response: “Awesome! This place and these people are a lot like home.”

General Attitude: Bewilderment, disenchantment, restlessness, impatience
Events: Classes, everyday life, responsibilities in home stay or dorm, unfamiliar food, language, customs
Emotional Response: Frustration, uncertainty, irritability, loss of enthusiasm, skepticism
Behavioral Response: Search for security in familiar activities (e.g., reading books in English), increased alcohol and/or food consumption, withdrawal
Physical Response: Colds, headaches, tiredness
Verbal Response: “Why do they have to do it like that? Why can’t they just…”

General Attitude: Impatience, irritation, aggression, hostility
Events: Uneven work performance, confrontation with difference
Emotional Response: Discouragement, lethargy, depression, suspicion, boredom, homesickness, anger, extreme sensitivity and irritability, loneliness
Behavioral Response: Withdrawal, avoiding contact with host nationals, excessive sleep, tearful, loss of concentration, tension/conflict with others
Physical Response: Minor illnesses, headaches, preoccupied with personal cleanliness
Verbal Response: “This place sucks! I hate it here.”

General Attitude: Adjustment and/or recovery
Events: Work performance improves, able to interpret cultural clues, sense of humor returns
Emotional Response: Sense of comfort with surroundings, sense of belonging in culture
Behavioral Response: Empathy, ability to see things from perspectives of host national
Physical Response: Normal health
Verbal Response: “Home” is home stay or dorm. “We” includes host nationals.

General Attitude: Ambivalence and state of disorientation
Events: Wanting to tell others about experience and finding others generally not very interested
Emotional Response: Mixed-up, disconnected, disoriented, irritability, depression, desire to return to host country, uncertainty about “home”
Behavioral Response: Criticism of home, friends and the United States, keen interest in foreign affairs and news, apathy
Physical Response: Colds, headaches, exhaustion
Verbal Response: “I never realized…”
–Adapted from the Fulbright Newsletter, 1988

Just as your experience with culture shock will be individual and personal, you will need to deal with it in an individualized way. An important thing to keep in mind is that confronting rather than avoiding the symptoms and causes of culture shock will help you to adapt much faster to the host culture. Also, do not hesitate to talk to your RD, in-country contact, or your Study Abroad coordinator at any time about how you are feeling with your cultural adaptation.

• Understand that practically everyone who goes overseas experiences some form of culture shock. It is a very natural part of the study abroad experience, and you will get through it.
• Before you leave, learn as much as you can about the culture you are visiting. Gather information on the country history and basic facts and collect dos and don’ts of the culture. The number of surprises you experience will decrease with the more you know in advance.
• Form friendships with host nationals, as many will be sympathetic, understanding, and open to discussions about the specific situations and feelings you are going through.
• Look for logical reasons behind everything in the host culture that seems strange, difficult, confusing, or threatening.
• Avoid the temptation to be negative or to belittle the host culture.
• Take care of yourself, get exercise, and eat well. Know how and when to release tension and pay attention to your physical and emotional health.
• While overseas, consider writing a journal to help gather your thoughts about what you are experiencing.

The good news is that culture shock need not last long if you work to keep an open mind and seek to understand your new surroundings and the people you are meeting. Striving to remain tolerant of differences and maintaining a sense of humor can be very helpful tools. Although culture shock can be challenging, overcoming it provides a valuable opportunity for personal growth. It is a mind-stretching process that will leave you with a broader perspective, a deeper insight into yourself, and a wider tolerance for others. You will mature in ways that you never would have had you stayed home.
 

“The Ugly American”

• Avoiding temptations to tell people that Americans do things better
• Being a person who shares and is inclusive in relationships
• Being genuinely interested in your host country and its people
• Not talking a lot about your possessions or your family and friends
• Not demanding special treatment because you are an American
• Not drinking to excess
• Not telling your host country’s citizens how much they are behind the United States
• Not being obvious or loud about your patriotism/nationalism
• Not throwing your money around

– Adapted from Australian Education Office’s pre-departure guide.
 

Gender

You will find that gender politics in the United States are unique and often different from countries around the world. It is extremely important to research your host culture’s gender roles and assumptions before you leave. Perhaps the greatest challenge to U.S. women abroad stems from their tendency to be independent and to hold the belief that women may go where men go and do what men do. Unfortunately, these beliefs do not hold true in many other countries. In order to stay safe and enjoy your time abroad, women must educate themselves on the unwritten rules of the host culture to which they will travel. Be aware that women’s behavior may have different meanings in the host culture than in the United States. The belief that U.S. women are wealthy and “easy” is reinforced by movies, popular television shows viewed around the world, magazines, etc. Making eye contact with or smiling at a stranger in the street may be interpreted as an “invitation” abroad, though it may be completely acceptable and innocuous behavior in the United States.

In certain areas of the world (e.g., Latin America, parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) men may openly and publicly express their appraisal of women in ways that are offensive by U.S. standards. For some, the honking horns, catcalls, and other such attention may be flattering; however, most find it annoying and even demeaning. Though difficult, it is important to learn to ignore this behavior and conduct oneself in a manner in which the attention is not further encouraged.

Study abroad students, both men and women, should understand that relationships between the sexes may differ significantly from what is familiar to them in the United States. What may be considered normal relations with people of the opposite sex in the U.S. could be interpreted very differently by the host culture. Be aware that sexual behavior considered normal in the U.S. might invite trouble in the host country. Men and women alike should take the time to talk to host culture counterparts to better understand local customs as they pertain to such details as acceptable dress and other prevailing social mores. A web site of interest is journeywoman.com, which provides travel tips for women.
 

Racial diversity

• Know that it happens. Being intellectually prepared for it may help you to cope with it.
• Don’t take it personally. Racism is not directed at you personally but to a generalized perception or stereotype about the group to which you belong.
• Understand that racism is an irrational reaction. Once people get to know you, their prejudice may disappear.
• Take the initiative to educate others about your own ethnic background. Acknowledging racial differences need not be an occasion for strife but an opportunity to help others understand these differences.

Sexual Identity

Living in another culture provides an opportunity for self-exploration and individual growth. As a study abroad student, you may have already identified yourself as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, or you may question your sexual identity for the first time while you are abroad. In either case, it is important to know what the attitude of the host country will be in regards to sexual orientation. Research your country’s attitudes and resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students prior to your departure.

• Talk to your Study Abroad coordinator about his or her knowledge of the country and past participant information.
• Discuss your feelings and concerns with your RD.
• Contact the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Student Services Office at Ohio State for resources and information, (614) 292-6200.
• Search the Web for in-country resources, support groups, attitudes, etc. Try some of the following sites:

• planetout.com (GLBT travel resources)
• letsgo.com (travel resource guide)
• outandabout.com (GLBT travel newsletters)
• iglta.org (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association)
• indiana.edu/~overseas/lesbigay/student.htm (resources for students)

Students with disabilities

Web sites of interest

• Office for Disability Services
• Mobility International USA