New Journal Entry #9

[Mark Kligman]

After watching the video "Culture Shock" I could actually relate to the experiences I went through when I first came to America as a 15 year old high school Sophomore who could speak English, but had a completely different culture compared to that of Americans. It was indeed a very hard time to adapt similarly to what the international students of Richmond experienced, however I believe the the experience was a little more difficult for myself, especially since I was younger than the students included in the "Culture Shock" video. It was incredibly difficult to adapt since knowing the domestic language is nowhere close to what is required for Americans to accept foreigners into their circle of friends and acquaintances. I believe the reason to this is the clash of the domestic and foreign cultures that America experienced in the past because of their deep foreign scandal history. This is simply the way the majority of Americans are raised, they do not care for other cultures, they make fun of differences and believe that anything other than the American culture is inferior and inappropriate in the US. Therefore my conclusion is that in order to feel convenient in the US and to be treated at a respectful level, people must seriously adapt to the American people and their culture, because if they fail to do so they will have a very difficult time being happy in America. However, i believe that the University of Richmond needs to discontinue their separate international orientation since it causes international students to stay in their comfort zone and prevents them from attempting to meet and befriend American students. I believe that if all orientations were merged together, there would not be any separation on campus.