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Culture

U.S. Addresses

By law, all internationals on F-1 must keep the following contact information on file with the government and report changes within 10 days.

You are required to update your local address within ten days of arriving in Fort Wayne, or after changing addresses. If your first address is temporary – hotel, homestay, etc. – , you must update your address again after you move into longer-term housing. You can always update your local address, phone number, and alternate email address with International Services at any time.

The format follows the same template as below. If you do not have a house number or apartment number, you can leave that part blank. You might also see the apartment/room number under the main street address.

House Number, Street Name, Apartment/Room Number

City, State, Zip Code

Ex:
1234 Main Street #5b
Fort Wayne, IN 46802

Ex:
1600 E. Washington Blv.
Andorfer Commons, Room 223
Fort Wayne, IN 46803

Culture Shock

Culture shock is the psychological process of having to adjust to new surroundings and a new culture. It is very common and completely normal. The adjustment process has highs and lows.

Common Symptoms:

  • Feeling isolated, frustrated, and nervous. You may find yourself sleeping a lot even after you should have recovered from jet lag.
  • Feeling very home sick. While it is normal to miss family and friends, if you think of nothing else and write letters or send emails all the time, you are probably suffering from culture shock.
  • Feeling hostile towards the U.S. people around you. Minor irritations may make you very angry.
  • Being dependent on your country’s people on campus.
  • Doubting the decision you or your family made to come to the U.S. could be caused by academic anxieties, social tensions, or difficulties in achieving your goals.

Stages of Cultural Adaptation

  • Honeymoon Phase
    • The first few days or weeks in a new culture are exciting and exotic. This time varies for everyone but it’s generally similar to having that happiness of a new place or vacation. But, soon enough, this blissful feeling wears off.
  • Culture Shock
    • Culture Shock is the emotional and physical response we experience settling into a new culture. For some, culture shock is brief and hardly noticeable. For others, it can cause intense discomfort often accompanied by hyperirritability, bitterness, resentment, homesickness, and depression. Some may experience physical symptoms such as stomach pain or nausea. Cultural shock is normal. Awareness is the most important step in understanding your cultural experience.
  • Cultural Adaptation
    • Cultural adaptation involves psychological adjustment and social adjustment and refers to the success of adapting to a new culture by participating in the local culture, learning the language, making friends, and enjoying life.

Tips for Culture Shock

  • Stay busy with school, friends, sports, and activities.
    • Be open minded to new customs or traditions. Trying new things can help to adjust and make memories.
    • Remember why you came to America
    • Be patient with yourself…these feelings of culture shock and doubt are normal.
    • Reach out to the International Services team for ideas, sympathetic support, and additional resources or ideas.

Language Barrier

Speaking a foreign language in a classroom is one thing but living in a society where you will need to use it daily is completely different. There are some adjustments to prepare for.

  • Accent: You might need a bit of time to get used to the Midwest accent once you arrive as it isn’t always the standard English from your classroom. Alternatively, some locals might not understand you right away so they might ask you to slow down or say something again. But don’t be shy!
  • Slang: There are a lot of slang or idioms in daily speech. It might take time to understand but don’t be afraid to ask questions.
  • Humor: Some international students have trouble adapting to the informal style of conversation especially since humor and sarcasm are often used. This should be interpreted as a mark of friendliness rather than disrespect.

Individualism

One of the most important things to understand about Americans is their devotion on individualism. From childhood, Americans have been training to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies. They have not been trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit, tightly interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other collective.

Closely associated with the value they place on individualism is the importance Americans assign to privacy. Americans assume that people need some time to themselves or some time alone to think about things or recover their spent psychological energy.

Americans generally consider themselves to be frank, open, and direct in their dealings with other people. Americans will often speak openly and directly to others about things they dislike. They will try to do so in a manner they call “constructive”, that is, a manner which the other person will not find offensive or unacceptable. If they do not speak openly about what is on their minds, they will often convey their reactions in nonverbal ways (without words) through facial expressions, body positions, and gestures. Americans are not taught that they should mask their emotional responses. Their words, the tone of their voices or their facial expressions will usually reveal when they are feeling angry, unhappy, confused, or content. They do not think it is improper to display these feelings, at least within limits. 

Piracy

The U.S. and Indiana Tech are very strict in enforcing piracy laws. Downloading, copying, and sharing material such as music, movies, games, and applications, for which the copyright holder has not given you rights is both against the law and Indiana Tech’s Acceptable Use Policy for computing resources. More information on piracy laws can be found in your Student Handbook.

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