Preparing for our culture

After a sangria reunion with the students that I traveled to Spain with, and spending far too much time looking for a topic this week, I got to thinking about the customs that we were warned about before heading to live in an entirely different culture, one that has different acceptances and expectations.

For example, Spaniards, we were told and later observed, do not hesitate to let you know that you have a bad hair cut or that you are overweight as many think you should know.

I wondered if similar instructions and lists were available for students who travel here to the United States to study abroad. I found such a list on International Student Resources: Life in America.

Here’s a few of my favorites of what they had to say about Life in America:
1. “Never pick at your nose in public.”
2. “Never talk about someone's weight --"you are very fat".”
3. “Use deodorant and brush your teeth or use mouthwash. Americans are very sensitive about body odors.”

US Education Guides also offers insight to cultural differences and things for students to expect. The one that stuck out most to me was relationships.

“Men and women in the United States often form friendships that have no romantic involvement,” according to the US Education Guides’ Understanding American Customs and Cultures.

I love the idea of sending our students around the world and the world sending theirs to us. We were treated differently, it was like we weren’t Americans, we were students so politics and world affairs were cast aside.

Still interested: Here's some guidelines from InternationalStudent.TV the Web site, which is full of other video interviews, is designed to help students with the "academic and cultural adjustment process."