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Culture Shock
Adjusting to Life at Penn State Altoona
 Imagine this: You're getting ready to visit a foreign county, and it's one in which you know only a few words of the country's native language and aren't too familiar with the culture, other than what you've seen on the Internet and read about in books. You're scheduled to leave in a few weeks, but your passport papers don't come in on time, so you need to delay your trip at the last minute and reschedule everything that you were planning to do while you were there. You finally get to the country, yet you have difficulty passing through customs and you can't communicate very well since you don't know the native language. To make matters worse, you're there by yourself and you don't see anyone else who looks like you or talks like you. If this sounds like a bad dream, it's not….it's an experience that's shared quite often by international students who are studying in the United States.
More than 55 students from such faraway lands as Turkey, the Dominican Republic, France, Taiwan, Nigeria, and Brazil currently attend Penn State Altoona, and the experiences they encounter while they are here are as varied as the countries from which they come. But there's one challenge that the majority of them share – culture shock.
"Students who live in the United States and are going away to college for the first time may get homesick, but their parents are just a phone call or a car or plane ride away. International students don't have that same benefit," says Dr. L. Jay Burlingame, Associate Director of Student Affairs and Director of International Services. "We work with the students to make the transition easier for them, because they have so many steps that they have to take that students from the United States don't have to go through, such as proof that they can support themselves here for at least a year."
 In addition to providing proof that they can support themselves, international students also need to begin planning earlier for their college experience because of the delay they face in getting their visas and processing the necessary documentation for their studies abroad. International students aren't issued Social Security numbers, so they can only work to support themselves at Penn State, and often have difficulty doing things that we take for granted, such as securing a driver's license, purchasing a car, and getting medical treatment.
"The University requires that students from foreign countries have health insurance," notes Burlingame, "but many countries have socialized medicine and won't pay for the treatment that students receive while they are here."
They also have difficulties over spring break and other times during the year when the University is closed, because they may not have anywhere to stay unless they have a relative who lives in the States. And the language barriers they face are especially evident in class, where they must sit and listen to a lecture that is often in a language that is different from their own.
"When I first got here, I had trouble talking because I had never talked with a native-English speaking person and I had trouble finding the right words to say," says Nazli Turken, a sophomore industrial engineering major from Turkey who had never been to the United States prior to beginning school at Penn State Altoona. "I was frustrated because I couldn't verbalize the words that I wanted to say."
 But the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for these students. Despite the difficulties that they may encounter during their first weeks of college, many international students are grateful for the opportunity to be able to study here and gain experience and knowledge that will benefit them in the future.
"I got accepted to other schools, but I wanted to go somewhere different, where everyone didn't speak Spanish," says Marcio Oliviera, a sophomore from Brazil who's studying Business Supply Chain and Information Systems. "I wanted to experience a new environment and a new challenge. Staying in Brazil wouldn't have added as much to my life as coming to Penn State, because a degree from Penn State is recognized around the world. By coming here, I can expand my horizons to how the world works."
After he graduates from Penn State, Oliviera hopes to work in the United States for a few years, then return to Brazil to work for an American company.
"(In Brazil) they really look up to American degrees, especially ones from Penn State."
 Like Oliviera, Manuel Alfaro also liked the prestige of a Penn State degree and wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father.
"My dad studied industrial engineering here, so it seemed natural for me to do the same," says Alfaro, a sophomore business and management information sciences major from Venezuela.
After coming to Penn State in the spring and living off-campus, however, Alfaro found it difficult to meet new friends.
"Because there was no formal orientation in the spring, I spent a lot of time in my apartment and got to know my cable box really well – that is, until I found out about the International Student Association. Through that, I met so many new people."
Alfaro currently serves as president of the International Student Association (ISA), of which Oliviera is vice-president. Both say they are glad to be able to help other international students through their involvement.
"The ISA was formed to help everything get done, such as Social Security applications, driver's license applications, weekend activities and social activities, " Alfaro says. "We try to have a lot of weekend activities, because many of the new students get homesick, and we have an international festival each year that's open to the community, and we help educate them about the different cultures that are here."
 "I know a lot of English, but some students only know the very basic words when they first get here, so the group really helps provide support to those students," Oliviera says.
Through the ISA, the students take weekend trips to Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Pittsburgh, and are planning a trip to the outlets in Hagerstown, Maryland, for students to buy merchandise to take home for the holidays.
Both Oliviera and Alfaro found the biggest adjustment for them in coming to the United States was the change in seasons here.
"At home, morning begins at 7 a.m. and evening begins at 7 p.m., all year long. It's warm year-round, so we spend a lot more time outdoors and to the beach year-round. I wasn't used to being indoors so much," notes Alfaro, who also says that times vary much more in the United States than in his home country.
"We eat dinner a lot later at home – usually at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. People usually work from 8 a.m. till noon, then from 2:00 to 6:30 p.m. Since we work later, we eat later."
 Another major transition for them in coming here was the difference in food and overall food quality.
"I don't cook a lot and tend to eat on-campus, but the food here is really processed. At home, I eat a lot more natural foods and more rice, beans, and shredded beef," says Oliviera.
Alfaro agrees and notices the difference in his meals from those of his roommates.
"Because I live off-campus, I cook a lot and buy fresh foods, but my roommates buy a lot of boxed and ready-made foods."
He laughs at the language and cultural differences that some of his colleagues in ISA experience, such as a friend who saw a hamburger on a menu and thought he couldn't eat it because it had "ham" in it.
"I had a different experience when I walked into the local food market and tried to tip the bagger who packed my groceries. Back home we give a tip to them, but here no one does."
Other cultural differences such as holiday celebrations can be eye-opening for the international students.
"When the holiday season is here, they are so different than what we celebrate at home, but I enjoy them so much," says Turken, who goes home during winter break and over the summer. "My roommate last year taught me a lot about the tradition of Christmas and made me a Christmas CD, and I just love the music."
While Turken appreciates learning about the American culture, she's also eager to share her Turkish culture and provided a belly-dancing demonstration and lessons at last year's international festival on campus.
 "Belly dancing is a cultural dance that I grew up with and I really enjoy that kind of music and dance. I usually just listen to the music on my personal headset, though, because I don't want people to laugh at my culture. I love American rap music, too, and listened to a lot of it before I came here."
French business student Pierre Giraux wanted to get a better taste of American life, so last year he rented a house off-campus so that he could get the "typical American experience." He lived with three American students and relished the experience.
"We got along so well, and you learn so much from living with students who have a different background from yours. We enjoyed learning about each other's different interests, such as Monday Night Football. They really enjoyed watching it, while I prefer soccer, which is much more popular at home."
And while he's enjoying the American experience, he says he sometimes feels frustrated by not being closer to a major city, since he lives an hour from Paris and studied in Marseille.
"You really need to have a car here, but I enjoy visiting different cities with the ISA. We've gone to DC., Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and it gives you a chance to balance your studies with your fun."
In addition to learning about the differences in culture between the different countries that are represented at Penn State Altoona, having a number of international students on campus helps enrich the lives of native students studying here.
"International students have so many things that are different from the students from America and it gives both a better flavor of what the world is like," says Burlingame.
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