To my mind, the University of Richmond is quite elective. I say this refering to the application process. Besides getting all the paper work done, there were lots of other things to worry about. Since the US is very conscious about foreigners bringing in sicknesses, I faced serious issues meeting the Tuberculosis requirements. I had to spend a big amount of time investigating which institution offers the Tuberculosis Quantiferon test, yeah, I still now its name, required by the University's health department. Finally, I found out that the department of national health security only does this testing and that this test is requested once in a blue moon.
The students in the video talked about their experiences with Americans, f.i. it is not usual to say 'no' in the US. This may lead to a misunderstanding unless people are aware of it. In addition, this might be a reason why international students tend to stick together most of the time. Since they all have to deal with culture shock, they feel that they get along better having something in common.
I found the culture shock video very interesting and even amusing some times. Being an international student, I can confirm that we internationals tend to stick together a lot. I would say this is because we know each other for longer and most of us are studying the same, business. For instance, in the spring 2014 term approximately 90% of the internationals are business majors. This is not surprising to me as I spent much time on selecting the university I want to go to in the US and I think my fellow colleagues did the same.
For myself, I put great effort in getting to know Americans better and it has been worth it. Also, this is because I am interested in lot of different activities. From what I have been told and from what I have experienced so far, the key to an American is doing something together. Activities in all kind of varieties, whether it is going to Salsa or Tango night, joining the Quidditch team or Archery club or simply attending professional events like a talk with an UR alumni CFO or Barclays manager, will certainly help making friends.
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