Cultural Differences And Cultural Isolation

Culture Differences Associated Social Isolation The second challenge for visiting scholars to face in US is the culture difference (“culture shock”) as shown in the literature (Andrade, 2006). Cultural and social barriers are challenges in the understanding and accepting the difference in social and cultural norms, values etc. Besides facing the same challenges as other international students, the majority of the Chinese students finds the process of making American friends difficult. They have difficulty interpreting the rules and norms of discourse and social engagement; and they are challenged by creating new support networks to help them adjust to the new culture (Swagler& Ellis, 2003; Yan & Berliner, 2012, Peterson, 1999). Most visiting

deep or is lack of awareness or willingness to explore difference For example,…Chinese culture promotes collective thinking and connections with people in the society. To establish a harmonious society is the goal of higher education (Huang & Brown, 2008). In US society, individualism and self-reliance are valued. Critical thinking is highly valued in the US educational system (Huang, 2005). This dramatic contrast between the two cultural systems provides a context for much miscommunications between the internationals and locals. Most of our participants of this study felt intimidated to communicate with local people because they are so different. This led to the social isolation they experienced. Some participants felt lonely because they did not know how to establish permanent relationships with local people. Futhermore, the concept of friendship is often viewed quite differently in diverse cultures (Spinks & Wells, 1997). International students could also be confused about the friendship because the American students may be more interested in more superficial socializing than in becoming close or trusted friends (Liu, 2009; Andrade, 2006). A better understanding of each other’s cultural background

Away from family and alone in a new environment with limited communication skills are imaginably challenging for most people. Missing families far away can be best compensated with new meaningful relationships established in the strange environment as soon as possible. Asian students are not only the largest international population studying in the United States, but also the most struggled ones to adjust to the U. S. education system and campus life (Talbot &Geelhoed, 1998) Asian students are not only the largest international population studying in the United States, but also the most struggled ones to adjust to the U.S. educational system and campus life (Talbot & Geelhoed ,1998). A strong social support network seems to improve international students’ abilities to cope with this stressful situation (Wan et al., 1992). Poyrazli et al. (2004) found students who perceived from higher levels of traditional and online social support experienced lower levels of acculturative stress and thus more satisfaction. Most of our participants experienced loneliness and helpless at the beginning of their new lives here in the United States. But they learned to cope little by little. All our participants expressed their gratitude to those who had helped them to adapt to this new culture. They could be a close friend or nameless people from church.