Information for Accepted Students

Pre-Departure Requirements

Come to a Pre-Departure meeting where we willl give you the following forms and basic information for study abroad. Contact oip@mail.wvu.edu to schedule your meeting.

• Student Information Page
• Transient Form
• Study Abroad Contract
• Proof of Insurance
• Immunization Form
• Confidential Health Form
• $100.00 Administrative Study Abroad Fee (Payable to West Virginia University)
• Photo Copy of Passport

Dealing with Culture Shock

"Culture shock" is the term used to describe the more pronounced reactions to the psychological disorientation most people experience when they move for an extended period of time into a culture different from their own.  Culture shock is probably the biggest personal challenge you will encounter while abroad.  It can cause intense discomfort, often accompanied by hyper-irritability, bitterness, resentment, homesickness, and depression. In some cases distinct physical symptoms of psychosomatic illness occur.

All of us have known frustration at one time or another.  Although related, and similar in emotional content, culture shock is different from frustration.   Frustration is always traceable to a specific action or cause and goes away when the situation is remedied or the cause is removed.  Frustration may be uncomfortable, but it is generally short-lived when compared to culture shock.

• Homesickness
• Compulsive Eating
• Withdrawal
• Unexplainable Crying
• Boredom
• Exaggerated Cleanliness
• Irritability
• Family Tension/Conflict
• Marital Stress
• Chauvinistic Behavior
• Stereotyping
• Hostility Toward Locals
• Excessive Sleep
• Ineffective Academic Work
• Physical Ailments (Psychosomatic Illnesses)

Get to know the host culture — See How to Research Your Host Country.
Look for logical reasons behind all things that seem "foreign" to your rationale.
Resist being the arrogant and "ugly American."
Make friends with someone in the host culture who can sympathize with your dilemma.
Communicate with home and those you love when you get sad and homesick.
Get out and do something active. Exercise releases tension.
Maintain a positive attitude about your experience.

When traveling overseas, it is essential that you keep a mental radar of what is appropriate and inappropriate within the host culture. It is easy to forget that some of the customs taken for granted in the U.S.A. may be perceived as being rude or vulgar elsewhere. Here are two examples of inadvertent ways in which Americans may be misperceived simply because they do not know the cultural nuances of the host country.

• Americans tend to like larger amounts of personal space than residents in France. Unconsciously, you may be perceived as being "socially uncomfortable" because you keep a longer distance from the person(s) with whom you converse at a party or in a class.
• In Africa, pointing the index and third fingers is considered as giving the "evil eye" to another person. An American may do this unknowingly, offending the other culture.
• Although Americans tend to think of eye-contact as a way of showing attention during a conversation, Malaysians perceive it as a form of domination and control. In Malaysia, it is considered rude to look directly into the person’s eyes during conversation.
• Americans tend to cross legs during conversation. It is not uncommon for an American to even touch his or her shoe during conversation. This is just a natural way of expressing being comfortable. In Lebanon, however, this is taken a sign of poor hygiene. To a Lebanese, why would a person touch the bottom of their shoe only to then again touch their face or another person! Shoes are meant to protect you from mud, dirt, and bacteria.

Realistically, it is impossible to illustrate every single cultural taboo found on the planet. However, these four examples suggest that research on your host culture prior to your departure may be of assistance to your cultural adaptation upon arrival. A great way to conduct research is to make friends with natives of your host country while on the WVU campus. This is the perfect opportunity to engage in friendly discussions about cultural differences between the United States and the host country.

Keeping a Journal

Keeping a journal of your study abroad experience and of your thoughts regarding your experience is a good way to record this exciting time in your life. You can look back on a journal in several years and not only read about what you were doing but how you were changing. A journal is something you will have as a keepsake.

A journal can also be used as a tool to help you through difficult times while you are abroad and to help you ease back into your own culture when you return home. Re-entry shock upon your return is as real as the culture shock you experience when you arrive in a new culture. Many study abroad participants experience difficulty in articulating their experiences in meaningful ways for themselves. They find that most people really are not interested in their adventures. Many times their experience is summed up as, "It was great," or something similar. To say the least, this situation can become very frustrating. Journaling is a great way to vent your frustrations and ask yourself important questions about how your goals, values, and opinions are changing and being formed.

A journal is not just about writing down what has happened. Students often find their journals more valuable and rewarding when they express how they feel about what is happening. Rather than creating a laundry list of chronological events, try a writing approach based on themes. You might try to keep a daily log of events and once a week go back and write about a theme. You may not know how the events of the day have impacted you for quite some time. You may want to keep a list of themes that you go back to again and again. You might want to write about your perceptions of values and how your perceptions may be changing during your time spent in another culture. The following list is just to get you started.

You don’t have to keep a journal with paper and pencil. Try other media such as writing your journal on the computer; taking photos and compiling a photo-journal; e-mailing your experiences and feelings to friends and family to keep them updated; keeping a web page; drawing; painting; or creating a video. You can also write with different styles — first person, third person, or poetry. Your journal is an expression of who you are so choose a style and an approach that is most comfortable for you.

Coping With Homesickness

Almost everyone experiences some degree of homesickness and it is completely normal. The important thing to remember is to dealing with these feelings so that they do not hinder your experience abroad. Here are a few tips you can use to help combat feelings of homesickness:

Take a piece of home with you
Take pictures of your family, friends, and pets. If you have a poster that you always hang on you wall, take it with you.

Stay in touch with the people you miss
While phone calls are expensive, e-mail is fast and usually free. Corresponding with your family and friends will help everyone keep up to date with the new things in your life.

Remember that it is worth it
Do not forget that you are in the middle of a wonderful opportunity. If you find yourself counting down the days you have left, look at the other side of the coin — "Wow! I have been here for two whole months! It is half over and there are so many things I have left to do!" Go and and explore your new surroundings. There are people to meet, places to go, and things to see.

Communicating With Home

Telephone
Calling home from other countries can be very expensive. Several companies such as AT&T, MCI, and Sprint offer calling cards which can make calling home easier and less expensive. Consult your telephone directory or the World Wide Web for information about these cards.  In addition, students who have purchased the International Student Identification Card (ISIC) can utilize the ISIConnect service.  This service, for a fee, allow students world-wide to make inexpensive phone calls, send and receive E-mail, fax and voice messages and store digital copies of important documents online.

Letters
A letter is a nice personal touch for communicating with someone special. When writing letters to home, consider that international postage in other countries can be expensive and that it may take ten days to several weeks for your letter to arrive. When combined with the time it will take for the recipient to compose a reply and for that reply to reach you, there will be a significant time lapse in your communication.

Electronic Mail
This is a really inexpensive way to communicate with your friends at WVU or those with access to a computer. Check with your host institution upon arrival. If your host institution does not offer E-mail accounts for students, check with one of the many free Web-based E-mail provides, such as Google, Hotmail, or Yahoo.

Another option for students are cyber cafes - coffee shops where you can surf the net while you get your daily dose of caffeine. To locate cyber cafes, visit <http://cybercaptive.com> and/or <http://netcafes.com>.