The results of this study are presented in four sections. First section briefly describes the cross-cultural adaptation process of international students in the NTNU.
Second section depicts the current cross-cultural training for international students in the NTNU. Third section explores the cross-cultural training during the adaptation process. Last section further compares the research findings with existing literature.
The Adaptation Process of International Studentsin the NTNU
The adaptation processes of international students in the NTNU are presented in three parts. First part is the psychological experiences of international students when they entering the new culture of Taiwan. Second part is the difficulties that international students faced during adaptation process. Third part is the strategies that international students used in order to adapt to the life in Taiwan.
Psychological Experiences in the Adaptation Process
The psychological experiences of international students when they entering Taiwan were quite various including excitement, fresh, worry, scare, loneliness and homesick (see Table 4.1).
Table 4.1. Coding of Psychological Experiences
Theme Category Key Concept
1-1-1 Excitement 1-1-2 Fresh 1-1-3 Worry 1-1-4 Scare 1-1-5 Loneliness 1. Adaptation Process 1-1 Psychological
Experiences
1-1-6 Homesick
1. Excitement and Fresh
When international students first arrived in Taiwan, most of them (4 out of 6) felt excited and fresh not only because it’s a new country and everything was new, but also it’s a chance for them to pursuing a new degree. One student expressed the
excitement of being in a new country, “…since I'm here I feel like excited about going around the city because I like traveling. I feel like going around and meeting people and doing things. (Student H) ” One student expressed the excitement about having a master degree,
The day I knew I'll come here I felt excited because you're going to a new place for study. You get excited because having master is another achievement. In home, if you have a master degree and you are women and you have more advantages. I was excited. (Student F)
2. Worry and Scare
However, there were still some worries and scares, especially when it’s the first time international students ever entered a new country. One student expressed his scare that,
It's my first visit, not only to Taiwan but to any foreign country. So in the beginning I feel a little scared...…maybe like how are the people and how's the environment. So I was not exactly excited but a little sacred. (Student I)
Also, departing from family to live in a new country raised lots of worries.
One student described his worry that,
Right away, a set of questions came into my mind and I didn’t stop to ask myself
“How could I survive far away from my family in a foreign country where people don’t know me? Could I cope with that during two years? Do the foreign people will receive me with happiness? When I will face a problem, to whom I have to share it? Will I get good treatment in Taiwan? Are people friendly there?”(Adopted from TICA Newsletter Fourth Issue, Feb. 2007)
3. Loneliness
As international students are the minority in the NTNU, they don’t have much friends of their originality. Additionally, they didn’t know anyone in the beginning so that they felt loneliness or isolated and they tended to be together with students of similar backgrounds. One student described his loneliness feeling that,
When you first came, you know nobody so there's a sense of loneliness…… So what you tried to do is to attach to people mostly of your own kind. So that was what I did first for my first two weeks here. (Student H)
4. Homesick
Not every international student had strong feeling of homesick. The degree of homesick depends on their previous experiences of leaving home. Four international students had experiences of living away from home either in their home country or in
other country. Such similar experiences somewhat decreased the degree of missing home. One student stated,
Actually each person misses their home. But in fact, I grow up other from my home in India. It means that my father lives in a small town, and I go to big city to study. So I already left home then. Still, I feel a little bit scared and mostly I miss my family and my friends. But still I can adjust here. (Student I)
When international students have children, it’s even harder to leave their young children than their parents. One student stated his feeling that,
It's my kids that I missed more. You know I cried because I miss them. Nobody else, I didn't care nobody.….. As far as missing my family, I've been away from them before like my brothers, sisters, mother, so that part didn't bother me. And missing friends, well, they are just people and not really important to say that I really need them around. (Student H)
Summary
The psychological experiences that most of the interviewed international students had were excitement while some were worry, scare and loneliness.
Although each of them felt certain degree of homesick, having previous experiences of leaving home helped international students adapt easier.
Difficulties in the Adaptation Process
International students in the NTNU faced several difficulties during the adaptation process including language and communication, food, traffic and transportation, accommodations and social interactions (see Table 4.2). The results are presented in the order of the frequencies mentioned in the interviews.
Table 4.2. Coding of Adaptation Difficulties
Theme Category Key Concept
1. Adaptation Process 1-2 Difficulties 1-2-1 Language and Communication
1-2-2 Food
1-2-3 Traffic and Transportation
1-2-4 Accommodations
1-2-5 Social Interactions
1. Language and Communication
Both international students and staffs in the NTNU and the TaiwanICDF mentioned that language was a major difficulty in the adaptation process. Just like one
student said, “…language, come on, you can’t live in a country without it! (Student G) ” Without the tool of language, international students seemed to be locked inside his/her world. One student described that, “I couldn’t express myself or the meanings I wanted to convey. I felt uncomfortable and upset. (Student D)” Even communicating with the worldwide language, English, difficulties still existed such as different accents. One staff mentioned that, “Sometimes it’s hard to communicate because of the accent. For example, our English accent is different from Indian students. It takes time to get used to and communicate with them. (Staff C)”
Furthermore, the influences of language were pervasive in international students’
everyday life such as buying things, eating food, going around in Taiwan and so on.
One student stated,
The major difficulty for me here is the language problem... Whenever we go to the market, we can't try the different food also, because the lack of communication.
Maybe there is still some good food like maybe some spicy and delicious food, but we can't taste. (Student I)
Even some international students who are studying in all-English program in the NTNU, they still encountered language difficulties inside the school. First of all, some of school systems are only in Chinese such as score system and course selection system. Also, lots of information from school is still in Chinese. For example, many application forms in school, regulations in dorms and library and facilities’
introductions are only in Chinese. One student mentioned difficulties of language and communication inside school that,
If we're in the school, we want to get some information and the information normally came in Chinese…… You're missing opportunities because you can't understand the language…… They (school) e-mail you but the whole e-mail is in Chinese…… Even the grade comes in Chinese…… (Student F)
Besides language, there are still other factors that influence communication such as communication styles. For example, one student identified difficulty regarding to different communication style that, “Here it's like too indirect communication……come on, just tell me how you feel, just be frank to me…… I just feel frustrated. (Student G)” One staff from the NTNU also indicated that she felt a little shocked about different styles of communication style that,
Some of them are more direct. For example, when I speak English to them, some international students will correct my grammar mistake directly…… But sometimes, it’s a little shock for me…… But I guess it’s what you have to get used to when you communicate or get together with them. (Staff C)
2. Food
Four out of six interviewed international students faced several difficulties regarding to food. It’s not surprised that international students from different countries had different tastes of food. One student described that, “(In India) our food is more spicy and more oily. But in here, the food is not salty or spicy and the taste is a little bit different. (Student I)” Another student had opposite comments of food taste that,
“In Taiwan, the food is more oily and salty. So my first month here, I almost ate Shabu-Shabu (hot- pot) everyday. (Student E)”
The selection of foods is another problem for some international students. One student stated that, “…one more matter is that most of the Indian people are vegetarian. But here the vegetarians are quite few. People here like to eat non-vegetable food. (Student I)” It’s more difficult for those who don’t eat certain food. One student mentioned that she even resisted the food at first.
It's hard for me to select food. Because the only seafood I eat is fish. And here they eat a lot of pork and I don't eat pork…… So somehow, I'm resisting the food because most of foods are already mixed up.…… I remembered within the first two weeks, somebody told me "Are you eating?" And the second time she told me,
"You have lose weight.” (Student F)
Also, some food seemed strange for international students such as giblets of animals or frog meat. One student described her unexpected food experience that,
As I was eating……I took a mouthful and it was so nice…… We then asked what kind of food it was and the reply was “sweet chicken”. Our Professors husband just turned and said “that is FROG”. I was so terrified that I thought I will be sick for the rest of my life. I wanted to put my finger in my mouth to induce vomiting but I was shy to do that. (Adopted from TICA Newsletter Third Issue, Dec. 2006)
Besides the taste or selection of food, another special aspect of food in Taiwan is the eating manner of using chopsticks. One student described the difficulties that,
“Chopsticks, it's difficult. Now I've already struggle with the food, and I have to struggle with the method of eating. (Student F)” Another students also stated the different manners of eating food that,” …in my country, we hardly use spoon and we use usually the hands. So in the beginning, it was very difficult to use chopsticks and spoon. (Student I)”
Moreover, international students still had other difficulties regarding to the preparation way of food. While it’s normal for us, the preparation way of the food had shocked international students. One student illustrated that,
…you go to some restaurants here, and the person who is cooking right there where you see they cooking and they are sweating, and they just wiping their faces while cooking…… On the street side, they stood down and they are washing their dishes or cutting food on the ground where people walk by…… So stuff like that is normal for your culture, but for us it's not normal. (Student H)
3. Traffic and Transportation
The traffic situation is well-described by one international student that, “Traffic is too much…… Here, motor bicycle, scooter, vehicles, buses…… Here, every hour, every minute. (Student F)” One student also expressed difficulty in adapting to the traffic situation that, “Because there’re too many motorcycles on the roads, I was a little scared about the traffic here. (Student D)”
Although we view Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) as a convenient public conveyance, it is viewed as a new challenge to some international students who have never exposed to this kind of transportation before. One student mentioned that,
MRT, that is another hard thing for me…… The train we have is for long distance…… In the main city, we don't have MRT running like here. So I had no exposed to MRT. What does blue line mean?…… So where am I going? I look at the map but I don't know the direction. (Student F)
4. Accommodations
Only one out of six international students who were interviewed mentioned about the difficulty regarding to the living condition of dorms. However, she indicated that accommodation was a hot issue among the international students in her class. The difficulty mostly resulted from the gap between their pre-perceptions and the real condition of dorms in the NTNU. One student mentioned that,” They (NTNU) don't really tell you what the condition of the dorms when we are coming. Now, when you get there, you get all these shocks. (Student F)”
The difficulty regarding to dorms included the rules of the dorm and the setting of the room and. As for the rules, some students were surprised not only with the amount of the rules but also the contents. Many international students argued that there are not so many rules of dorms in their home country. One student even felt suppressed because of those rules and she stated that,
Students who are from Europe, from Africa, from Caribbean, they say in their dorm when they live in university, there are no all these rules. But our Taiwanese classmates say that the rules are there to protect you. But we think no, they could protect you in a different way…… At here, you have to be pushed that don't do this, don't do that…… I'm so suppressed. (Student F)
Also, some rules of dorms seemed unreasonable for international students. One student expressed her disagreement with the rules that,
It (living condition) is quite different in many ways. They tell us that we're supposed to clean the toilet…… Because I don't think we pay our money and we should do it.…… We couldn't play music and we have to be quiet, really quiet.……
The moment when you walk into the dorm you have to be quiet. And the life becomes boring... I just feel like my spirit is going down. (Student F)
As for the setting of the rooms, some students expected single room for master program. Also other students thought the bed would be made of sponge instead of wood. One student expressed her disappointment that,
My first culture shock took place when I arrived at the NTNU Graduate dormitory.….. My room mate asked “Are you not going to Unpack?” and I replied yes but I am waiting for my mattress. She suddenly looked at me and said “there is no mattress, this is the bed”. I started to cry. I began to imagine the spongy and nice bed I left home only to come and sleep on “wood”. (Adopted from TICA Newsletter Third Issue, Dec. 2006)
5. Social Interactions
The ways of social interactions between local and international students also revealed some differences. Different ways of social interactions would cause some misunderstandings for both local and international students. For example, some international students would greet people with a hug while some local students would greet people with a smile. One student felt surprised that Taiwanese students seemed not to greet people.
My second shock which still grips me is the fact that Taiwanese do not greet people when they meet each other, especially in class. In my country, if I see you and do not greet you, it means you have offended me…… My first week was very hard.
My Taiwanese classmates will just enter the class and sit down without a word to me. I always feel bad. (Adopted from TICA Newsletter Third Issue, Dec. 2006)
Summary
During the adaptation process, international students faced several difficulties including language and communication, food, traffic and transportation, accommodations and social interactions. However, these were only some representative difficulties of international students and not all of them faced same problems. It should be noted that other factors affecting cross-cultural adaptation such as demographic, individual and contextual factors were not specifically analyzed in this study. This part focused on depicting a general picture of international students’ difficulties in the adaptation process.
Strategies Used in the Adaptation Process
As previous part presented, international students in the NTNU faced several difficulties. Nevertheless, all of them who were interviewed mentioned that they have adapted to the life in Taiwan and felt more comfortable than they just arrived. In order to overcome those difficulties, international students used several strategies such as gain social support, do as Rome’s do, keep open-minded, and gather information (see Table 4.3).
Table 4.3. Coding of Adaptation Strategies
Theme Category Key Concept
1. Adaptation Process 1-3 Strategies 1-3-1 Social Support 1-3-2 Do As Rome’s Do
1-3-3 Open-Minded
1-3-4 Information Gathering
1. Social Support
All of the interviewed international students mentioned that they received many helps and supports from friends. Moreover, social support played an important role for them during the adaptation process that having friends erased the feeling of loneliness and everything seemed much easier to adapt. One student stated that,
So actually when I have somebody to share my experience, that's my turning point.…… I think loneliness, that little sense of depression is one of the strongest things that affects international students…… And be happy then things changed, you know…… You don't become so stressful and so depressing. (Student H)
One student also mentioned that sharing experiences with friends helped him better adapt to the life in Taiwan.
I think it (feeling better) was because I knew a lot of people such as classmates including Japanese and other foreigners. So I could share my experiences with them…… I could share my experiences and thoughts with many people so I like Taiwan more. (Student D)
2. Do As Rome’s Do
During the adaptation process, international students learned some new things such as learning the language, using chopsticks, taking MRT and so on. Not only learning new things, they may also needed to change or adjust their behaviors in order to adapt. Some students mentioned about adapting the taste of food, changing their
food choices, wearing more casual clothes and so on. For example, one student changed his cloth style.
In India, we use formal dresses like shirts and trousers not like T-shirt…… We don't use the T-shirts and not even jean pants. But here, the students or everywhere, they use the jean pants and T- shirts. So we have to change that aspect. Because in the beginning, I wear in shirt and pants and I feel like that I'm looking different from others. So I changed that. (Student I)
3. Open-Minded
Half of the interviewed international students mentioned about being open-minded and trying new things helped them better adapt to a new culture. With an open mind, international students would try new things that they had never done before. One student described his experience of trying new food that,
I notice that I'm eating food that when I first came I don't even want to touch them.
They don't look appealing, and they didn't have a taste. So it's especially adapting to the food…… I've tried others and it not as bad as it seems. (Student H)
With an open mind, international students could further learn to appreciate
With an open mind, international students could further learn to appreciate