Adapting in a new

Culture By: Mohammed & Yasser

Civic Engagement Project Proposal

A lot of people who expatriate find the difficulties and

- Alienation
problems in the alienation. Especially if someone young

or lonely. Young people come out of their homeland, - Community

whether voluntarily or forced to travel to another country

to live between different people and different culture. - Solution

they must adapt as much as possible to this new

- Timeline
environment and to those new people.
 A Story in Alienation
According to Edutopia.com When I first arrived in
Australia at the age of 16 to go to High School for one
year and live with a host family, I was completely happy. Sometimes when students decide to study or
happy to be in that other culture and everything you
experience, from cultural aspects such as ways of living live in a different country, they think
and interacting with others to clothes, music, and food,
everything will be easy and fine, which this
seems exotic, new and exciting. as I was going to
experience soon enough this feeling didn’t last forever. is one of the reasons that they get a culture
After about two months, things started to feel odd.
Differences became more apparent. I started missing my shock. The effects of culture shock are
friends and family more and more. Frustrating thoughts
increasingly populated my head: “Nobody really different for everyone and can result in
understand me, my English is not good enough. I wish
people would just be able to speak German for one day! different behavior and feelings. The timing
Over the next few months, though, feelings of adjustment
and belonging more and more superseded those feelings
of the different phase also varies a lot from
of displacement and homesickness. I developed my own person to person.
little routine, learned to adapt to stress through various
techniques, and made many new friends. I had slowly
and unknowingly entered the “adjustment phase”. I had
learned what to expect in most situations, had adapted
my own behavior and learned to appreciate new ways of
thinking and attitudes.

Community Outside the University

While the education gained in the classroom is without
a doubt beneficial, using what was learned and applying
it to real-world learning opportunities will lead to a
more robust and well-rounded education.

One of the problems is that some international students

don’t explore what the community has or can give.

As long as international students communicate with the

community, such as neighbors or at stores, they will
adapt faster. Volunteering with organizations is a
perfect step to adapt in a new culture.

Students will not get along with new culture if they are
just staying home and waiting for others to talk to
them.
All students, regardless of nationality, should be given
an opportunity to feel safe and welcome within their
community.

Civic Engagement Project Proposal | 2


Educators shouldn't be the only ones contributing to
make international students be involved with Americans.
Much of what we learn as children and adults happens
outside the classroom through real world experiences and
from your peers, mentors or on the job.
Understand others, their
feelings, thoughts, attitude, and
respect.
Get involved in local activities.
Don’t let language barriers
discourage you.
Be involved with organizations
and volunteer.
Civic Engagement Project Proposal
According to PsychologyToday.com Lawrence T.
White Ph.D. Culture Conscious. In 2008, Lawrence
lived in Fez—the spiritual heart of Morocco—while
directing a study abroad program for American
students. It was his fifth time in the country, he felt
comfortable living and working there. Soon after he
arrived, a middle-aged Japanese couple moved into his
apartment building. They had come to Fez to volunteer
for one year at a clinic that provides services to disabled
children. It was their first time in Morocco. They spoke
just a bit of English and understood neither Arabic nor
French. Lawrence remember thinking to himself, "These
nice people are going to be miserable. They won't be
able to adjust. They'll either go home early or regret
their decision to stay for a year." Two months later, he
had to humbly acknowledge that he had been
completely wrong about the couple. They had adapted
well to life in Morocco. Truth be told, they adapted
better than Lawrence did.
Adapting to a new culture:
When people move abroad, especially when the
culture is very different from their own, they will
be frustrated. Living abroad and experiencing a
different culture is an adventure and a challenge,
Do not assume anything and jump to conclusions:
when people move abroad, it will be a big change in
their life, and they should be prepared for this
change and accept it.
Adapting to a new culture requires a new level of
open mindedness:
People should be open minded, otherwise they would
hardly consider living abroad.
Learn to work with the culture not against it.
3
 Solution
International students should Try to really put themselves out there and make friends and talk to others even if they make a
mistake. Think about how others dealt with stress at home and apply it in the new culture: Yoga, sports, going for a walk,
talking to a close friend. Try to be positive and see the good aspect in everything. Negative thinking is a vicious circle and can
quickly pull you down. Always remember - what can I learn from this? Don’t try to negate the positive aspects of the other
culture. Managing to acquire those intercultural skills during a culture shock, the previous feelings of disconnection and anxiety
are well worth it. Maybe if international students did an exchange of some sort, students would live in a more understanding,
peaceful world.
According to Presentation Lantern Center, the center is a welcoming place where individuals meet new friends, share a cup of
coffee, and enjoy conversation. When individuals come to the center for a tutoring session, time is allotted for individuals to
converse with others over beverages like coffee or tea, and snacks or desserts provided by the center. During this time,
students and tutors from all over the world are engaged in stimulating conversation able to tell stories or even share cuisine
from their countries of origin. When I heard about the organization, I said “this is the solution”. the Center has welcomed over
1,000 immigrants from 69 different countries through their doors. It is a perfect place to give a lecture to these people to help
them in a new culture.

- Collect enough information about “Lantern Center” to present the “How to Adapt in A New Culture” to the students and the
immigrants.
- set an appointment with “Lantern Center” and talk about how/where and when the project should be.
- bring food/drinks and share it with the students and the immigrants during the presentation.
- share stories and experiences with others and make others share their stories as well.
- ask the students and the immigrants what are the things that making them struggle in a new culture and solve it together.
- show the students and the immigrants short awareness videos for better understanding.
- finishing up the presentation and making sure if the students have any question.

Date Task Resources

10/21 Contact Dora Serna

Lantern Center

10/24 Get ok from Ms. Megan

Lantern center
for the Lantern Center
presentation

11/1 Prep – University of

presentation Dubuque
aid

11/9 Prep – University of

practicing the Dubuque
presentation

11/21 Presentation Lantern Center

Civic Engagement Project Proposal 4

 References

- “Can You Adapt Successfully to Living in a New Country?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culture-conscious/201904/can-you-adapt-successfully-living-in-new-country.

- “Home.” Edutopia, https://www.edutopia.org/.

- “Community for Expatriates & Global Minds.” InterNations, https://www.internations.org/.

- What We Do. (2019, July 26). Retrieved from https://thelanterncenter.org/program-areas/.

Civic Engagement Project Proposal 5