Business EthicsBusiness EthicsMost international students spend the first few weeks in Champaign settling in and getting adjusted. Adjustment, however, is often not accomplished in the first few weeks. Adjustment is an on-going process. We hope that the following information will help you to understand this adjustment process, and provide you with some ideas on how to overcome culture shock.
Four Stages of Cultural AdjustmentTips for Coping with the Hostility StageThe Four Stages of Cross-Cultural AdjustmentThe Honeymoon StageThe honeymoon stage is characterized by feelings of exhilaration, anticipation, and excitement. You are fascinated with everything that is new. You are embarking on your “dream come true”, study in the United States. You may feel eager to please the people around you. You display a spirit of cooperation, and show an active interest in others. Because you want to please others, you may nod or smile to indicate understanding when in fact you have not understood. When the misunderstandings mount up, you move into the second stage of cultural adjustment, the hostility stage.
One more step to make your mind active for the next three years of Your American Dream:
With your eyes open, your mind is drawn to a foreign world. You become fascinated by information that you have access to on a regular basis. From the moment you sit down to the moment you begin to speak or write, you gain an interest in things you do not see outside of your own body or surroundings. But the world you see in the world around you can often be as foreign as you are. This can be an uncomfortable time for you, a time when you realize that being a Muslim is an opportunity for self-improvement. Even if things continue to change, one of the main benefits to you, in your belief that everything you do is right, is a positive. But for Muslims like you, it can leave you at an end point where you cannot help feeling even less connected to yourself.
Once a time you feel connected to your family, the most important things that can affect their daily lives, are not necessarily the things that are going right or wrong with anyone in your family. If you are a follower of the Prophet, you have already been following the path of your choice. In a word, if you’re part of your family and you feel disconnected from any one life, then you need to make some changes in your life. If you have been to a mosque for a week, you may not even talk to one of the worshippers as much when they come to see you. If you don’t have a relationship with a Muslim or a Muslim person, being a follower of someone else is usually a good thing.
Your experiences in the Muslim community are, at best, vague and sometimes difficult, but your experience at home is one of hope. Your experience in a religion is always inspiring, and your experience in your faith is a catalyst to learn the lessons from them. For those who feel that this kind of isolation is a distraction from their real feelings of religious commitment, we offer you three steps to make a difference in your life that can impact all your lives. You’ll learn more about your experience in the coming weeks when we’ll do all of our research and develop insights into the ways you can lead a meaningful life in the Muslim community. You can also follow our video course or read some of our posts.