Bookshelf: Resources on Cross-Cultural Lifestyles and Adjustment Exploration

This post is dedicated to sharing with my readers a list of resources on various topics including Cookery - India and other Ethnic Tastes. Other topics include: Cultural and Travel Memiors, Cultural Adjustment - USA, Culture Shock/ Re-entry, English as a Second Language - English as a Culture, Etiquette, India - Culture and Lifestyle Adjustment, Indian Languages, Interfaith Cultures, International Holidays and Holy-days, Living, Working and Studying Abroad, Mind, Body, Health, Spirit, Travel Guides. It is noted that 90% of all books referenced I have personally read and benefited from!

See this store in a stand alone site, click here.

India America Cross Cultural Integration - YouTube Video Diaries

A few months back I recorded myself on YouTube talking about my thoughts and experiences integrating the cultures of India and America in my life here in America. The three videos total about 15 minutes. Listen at your leisure! I would really be happy to hear your feedback on the videos. Log into this blog to leave your feedback or I have provided links under each video to the YouTube sites where you can leave your comments as well!!

This series of videos explores cultural differences between America and India from an American who lived in India wanting to know the life of an average person in India. What is cultural integration? What can help ease culture shock and culture integration? What are everyday experiences of life in India or America that can be learned before or immediately upon entering the foreign country that can make life easier?

Three videos on India-America Cross Cultural Integration from my YouTube account.


Leave comments on YouTube.




Leave comments on YouTube.




Leave comments on YouTube.

Thank you for watching and participating!!!

More references and related posts/videos:

36 Videos on Youtube of India trip, June 2008 to Kochi, Trivandrum, Munnar, Allepey, Thekkady and other places in Kerala, India!

My Authentic Life Journey - Video on YouTube

Am I an ABCA?

An American in Ecuador

Cross Cultural Experiences – Keeping it in Context

Educational Entrepreneurship: The First American To Matriculate at Madras Christian College

Honeymoon with Husband and his Family: Experiences in the Life of an Extended Family

How To Choose the Right Path in Studying or Living Abroad (Questioning how much cultural change can you handle?)

India America Cross Cultural Integration - YouTube Video Diaries

Integrating Two Worlds: Life in America with an Indian Twist

International Students Orientation to America!

Is Mine a Case of Reverse Culture Shock?

This article has been published in the book Culture Shock.

Japan Through American Eyes: Joe Conley

Preparing for a trip to India to visit Family

Test Taking Trials and Tribulations in India

Yearning to Return (Why I want to go back to India.)

Relearning How to Communicate (Interactions in an Intercultural Family)



Others thoughts and experiences:

Culture Shock- Moving Back to India by Isheeta Sanghi

A Returning Indian Entrepreneur Reflects



Authentic Journeys Cross Cultural Adjustment Mentoring Coaching, Rochester, NY





Thank you for reading and participating in this journey with me! E-mail me with your comments, questions or feedback!

tags:youtube videos,indian students abroad, study abroad, expats, lifestyle adjustmet, third culture kids, hidden immigrant, personal experience, reverse culture shock, culture shock, inspirational story, japan, third culture kids, life abroad, share your experience, small business, home based business, woman owned business, coaching, mentoring, cross cultural coaching, adjustment coaching, skills training, life in USA, Rochester, New York, immigrant, refugee, FOB, Fresh off the Boat, adjustment, work abroad, work in Rochester, live in Rochester, study abroad, international students, rochester institute of technology, university of rochester, nazareth college, international education, educational exchange, st. john fisher, monroe community college, students abroad, expatriate, work abroad

International Students Orientation to America!

Are you preparing to be an international student in America? These videos, produced by Columbia University, New York City, may be insightful to you.

I really liked these videos as the host, Dan Fishel, has an open, engaging personality. He also infuses a lot of light-hearted humor into the presentation, which helps the time pass by fast!

Are you an international student in America?
Did you attend an orientation?
How was it similar to this or different?
What do you wish you would have learned at orientation that you did not?

Thanks for watching the videos. Hope to hear your feedback on these videos below!!

Enjoy!!

Columbia Business School Orientation, January 2008 part 1




Columbia Business School Orientation, January 2008 part 2




Columbia Business School Orientation, January 2008 part 3



Columbia Business School Orientation, January 2008 part 4



Columbia Business School Orientation, January 2008 part 5






tags: "cultural adjustment" "international students" "america" "united states" "orientation" "international students orientation" "expats" "introduction to american culture" "college culture" "college life" university "columbia university "new students orientation"

On the Move: How have you absorbed culture shock?

By: Jennifer Kumar

Have you moved around the block or around the world? When you moved to the new environment, were the behaviors and interactions you learned adaptable to the new environment? Did you have to learn new ways of interacting, behaving and doing daily tasks? Did you meet new people with different approaches to the world, a different way of living, different ways of talking and expressing themselves, a different diet, perhaps? Did you have a difficult time not only adjusting to this but integrating your previous life with your new life? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have experienced culture shock! Would you like to share your experiences?

I hope the answer to both of those questions is YES!

I am Jennifer Kumar. I am an American who has lived in India and visited other countries, such as Canada, U.K, Malaysia and Oman. I have also lived in two U.S. states, New York and Massachusetts, in small towns, villages, medium and large cities and have visited almost all of the U.S. states by car, train or bus. I have had the opportunity to experience the inner and outer landscapes of many kinds of people, from villagers, slum dwellers, inner city, suburban, rich, poor, middle class, educated by schools, educated by nature and educated by life. The categories are endless, the point is that I have had the extraordinary opportunity of interacting and getting to know a lot of different people who have lived in a range of environments, each with their own lifestyle, values, rules, mores, spirituality, and culture.

Currently, I am undertaking a project to collect information about culture change, culture shock and reverse culture shock. All interviews e-mailed to me will be 100% confidential unless you would like me to make any part public. I am open to publishing parts of your interview on this and my other blogs, with a link back to your blog (approval pending, depending on content) to help you promote your blog and also to share your experiences with others. We are all on this earth to learn and share from each other. I appreciate your time and effort in helping me out with this project.

The question sets are comprehensive. I have listed so many questions not to miss anything. Please feel free to answer all or select questions. You do not need to answer all questions to submit this to me, Jennifer Kumar (jennifer@alaivani.com) before May 1, 2009. Thank you!

**Clicking on my e-mail id jennifer@alaivani.com will bring up an e-mail with the questions already listed. If this option doesn’t work for you, feel free to cut and paste the questions.

**If you prefer to make a podcast or a youtube video with the answers, do post it appropriately on your website and e-mail the link to me! I will link back from this blog. Thanks!

1. What nationality are you by birth? Where did you grow up? Which cities or countries have you lived in?
2. If you moved within your own country, what was the experience of moving like for you? Was it a culture shock? Please share what kind of environment you moved to and from (small town, village, suburbs, city, inner city, boon-docks).
3. What countries have you visited on vacation? Did you experience culture shock on a vacation?
4. What countries did you live in (go to school, work, care for family, etc) for an extended period of time? How long did you live there? Have you ever changed your citizenship? Once or more than once? Why are you compelled to change citizenship? Why are you compelled not to change your citizenship?
5. Did you experience culture shock when you moved to another country? How did you know you were experiencing culture shock? What did you miss most about your native country? What did you like about your new country? What did you find to be most easy or challenging to adjust to?
6. Have you moved to different environments in your new country? Please share what kind of environment you moved to and from (small town, village, suburbs, city, inner city, boon-docks). Did you experience culture shock when you moved around?
7. When you visited ‘home’ or moved back to your native country or birth place, how did you adjust back? Did your family or friends point out ways you had changed? If so, what did they think was different about you? Did you think that was different for you too? If so, how? Did you experience reverse culture shock? Please share your experience.
8. In all your experiences, did you have help to adjust to your new surroundings? Was this from family, friends, college or professional acquaintances? What was some of the most helpful things people did to make you feel comfortable and adjust to your environment?
9. Was it easy to learn to do everyday things in your new environment? Could you easily figure out how to bathe, eat, cook, run errands (banking, taking the bus, going shopping), socialize with people, adjust to the climate, etc.? What things were easy and what things were difficult? What could have made it easier to figure this out?
10. In your new environment, if there was a place to go for help, like international students office or cultural consulting firm, did you utilize this? Was it helpful? Why was it helpful? How could it be improved or why wasn’t it helpful? If such a place was not available, do you think it would have been helpful to you? What would you have looked for if going to this kind of office for help?
11. Do you have stereotypes or misconceptions about your new surroundings that have yet to be proved or disproved? What do you like about the new culture you are in? What do you miss about your native culture? Are there any aspects of your new culture you can not adjust to? What of your native culture will you cherish forever? Have you been able to integrate your native and adopted culture? Are you able to you’re your native food in your new home? If not, how have you adjusted your diet? Please share your thoughts and experiences.
12. What stereotypes or misconceptions have you educated people in your new environment about your birth culture or place? What kinds of questions do people in your new country or place ask you about your native country or birthplace? Have these questions inspired you to learn new things or viewpoints about your country or birthplace you had not thought about before? Please share your thoughts.
13. Have you adapted new behaviors into your lifestyle based on your cross-cultural experiences? What kind of changes do you notice about how you interact with the world? What behaviors or thought patterns have you adapted that you did not have before you lived in the new culture? Which place did you learn these certain behaviors and thought patterns? How do you see yourself or how do you think others see or perceive you as you have adapted new cultural behaviors into your lifestyle?

Answers to 14-15 will not be printed:
14. Male or Female
15. Age group – 15-20, 20-25, 25-30,31-35,36-40, 40-45,45-50,50-55, 56-60,60+


If you would like me to publish parts or all of your interview, questions 1-13 only, please provide your name as you would like it printed, a link to your website and an optional 3-4 sentence bio. I am also open to printing your photo if interested.


Thank you for reading and participating!!!

References on Culture Shock from Alaivani (my website);
An American in Ecuador

Cross Cultural Experiences – Keeping it in Context

Educational Entrepreneurship: The First American To Matriculate at Madras Christian College

Honeymoon with Husband and his Family: Experiences in the Life of an Extended Family

How To Choose the Right Path in Studying or Living Abroad (Questioning how much cultural change can you handle?)

Integrating Two Worlds: Life in America with an Indian Twist

Is Mine a Case of Reverse Culture Shock?
This article has been published in the book Culture Shock.

Japan Through American Eyes: Joe Conley

Preparing for a trip to India to visit Family

Test Taking Trials and Tribulations in India

Yearning to Return (Why I want to go back to India.)

Relearning How to Communicate (Interactions in an Intercultural Family)


Others thoughts and experiences:

Culture Shock- Moving Back to India by Isheeta Sanghi

A Returning Indian Entrepreneur Reflects


Thank you for reading and participating in this journey with me! E-mail me with your comments, questions or feedback!

Indian Students in America: 83,000 and counting!

By: Jennifer Kumar

The thought of coming to America for higher education is not uncommon for many foreigners. In fact, some foreign students, such as Saudis must come to U.S. to complete higher studies as facilities may not be available in their own country for all subjects of study. Still other students come to America because it may not only be ‘familiar’ or ‘exotic’ or provide better job opportunities back in their own countries, but because the competition to get into top colleges in their own countries is so fierce that they are compelled to apply and study at top notch universities in US where seats are more ‘readily available.’

Photo credit: Jared Chapman at Flickr.

It is only recently due to blogging and other forms of online communication that students are able to immediately share some of the experiences as they land on U.S. soil with the world. Recently, as I read Ravi Kumar Assudani’s experiences of orientation at Stanford University, I began thinking about the experiences of Indian students in U.S.

In current times, it may be rare for an Indian student to be the first from his or her family to come to America. From personal experiences I have heard and people I have met, I know about Indians coming to America for at least the last 60 years for the purpose of higher studies. The total number of students would be staggering, with the experiences of each individual is unique and interesting. However, if you wanted to know the individual experiences of each Indian student to land in U.S. during 206-2007, you would be reading almost 84,000 stories! According to the Institute of International Education, Indian students outnumber all other ethnicities by over 15,000. (source)

Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. A few weeks ago while walking around Rochester Institute of Technology campus during student orientation, I met an Indian student from the computer science department who told me, “I will not feel lonely here. I will always find someone with something in common with me, it seems the entire computer science department is full of desis!” Desis (pronounced day-seas), the colloquial term used between Indians to identify each other (meaning from the land, from India), are everywhere on college campuses in US, including RIT where they outnumber any other ethnic group by at least 5:1 (source).

Recently, The Hindu Newspaper released an article in its Education Plus Coimbatore section exploring the benefits of studying in U.S. This article not only compared some of the differences between the Indian and American educational models, but highlighted how some differences in the U.S. educational system are better suited to a “globalised world” (source) The title of the article also hints to this change, as it entices readers through claiming ‘U.S. Education Encourages Innovation.’ Being a product of both American and Indian educational systems as an American, in my limited experience, I do agree that the American system can afford more room for innovation than the Indian. However, I think this is all changing with the increase over the last especially five years of twinning programs (aka 2+2 programs) and the settling American and foreign educational programs within India’s colleges. Though this can set a tone for globalizing the educational system, I hope it will allow for free flow of ideas between systems and not the accepting of all things Western or American over Indian. There are some good qualities of both systems and if married, the best qualities will bring a new improved globalized education on Indian soil, maybe tipping the balance. Could an innovation in India’s educational system encourage more foreigners (Americans?) to study and earn degrees in India while Indians continue in increasing numbers to come here (America)?

Let’s see what the future brings.

Thank you for reading. Share your thoughts below.

Related Articles/Sites:

Coffee with Sundar: Follow Sundar as he interviews interesting Indian personalities, including Indians studying abroad. Interviews often give helpful advice on applying to U.S. universities, how to get funding and other related topics.

Information for International Students provided by SEVIS - Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) maintained by the US. Government. This is a very useful page on all stages of being an international student in US. Many documents are translated into the top languages of international students.

More Foreign Students – Everywhere. Published on insidehighered.com, November 12, 2007.

Open Doors 2007: Report on International Educational Exchange. Published by Open Doors//Institute of International Education. Hey-Kyung Koh Chin, Rajika, Ph.D. Bhandari, Authors.

Ravi Kumar Assudani’s experiences of orientation at Stanford University posted on “Applying to US Universities” (blog).

Rochester Institute of Technology International Student Services.

SEVIS Fact Page hosted by the International Student and Scholar Service at Portland State University.

Twinnings (2+2) Programs Gain Popularity Between China and Canada, Jennifer Kumar, Study Abroad News (Blog), December 19, 2007.

University for Persons of Indian Origin in India, Study in India (Blog), August 14, 2008.

US Education Encourages Innovation. R. Krishnamoorthy. The Hindu Newspaper, September 15, 2008. From “Education Plus Coimbatore’ supplement. (Read from RSS Feed here.)

Carnegie Mellon Australia Woos with full Scholarships to Deserving Students

By: Jennifer Kumar

Full scholarships ranging from US$25,000 up to US$70,000 awarded to deserving students to study abroad at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University’s Australia campus!?

http://flickr.com/photos/tps58/2710914655/

This was how I understood a press release published by The Hindu Newspaper, Education Plus Visakhapatnam recently. The punctuation marks at the end of that statement demonstrates my surprise at such an opportunity, wondering if it truly existed.

Upon trying to visit the website the press article suggested for more information, I was taken to an error page, realizing the URL had been misspelled by the Hindu newspaper folks. I did a bit of scouring on the net and found other sites under the Carnegie Mellon umbrella and was bombarded by a wealth of information on scholarships.

Firstly, I was a bit shocked by the requirements of the scholarships I found. These would be given to deserving international students, but a stipulation to utilize the scholarship would be to return to their home countries for at least two years upon completion of the degree to aid in the development of their country. When I read that I became more interested as I was curious citizens of what countries would be accepted, and would citizens from India qualify for such a scholarship? After reading the list of countries, and realizing India was not present, I had two further doubts. The first was if I was reading detail for the same scholarship The Hindu was advertising and the second if this was the right one, then should it even be advertised in The Hindu (let alone the fact the URL was mistyped).

On those doubts, I sent an e-mail to a staff member of the scholarship programs and received a wealth of information and some clarifications of doubts.

(Update: Courses at Carnegie University is an updated article written in the Hindu August 19, 2008 based on my communication with Ms. Doyle.)

The following is quoted by a most helpful Marketing Manager at Carnegie Mellon, Ms. Doyle:

Carnegie Mellon University-AusAID Scholarship is country specific (and applicants from India are not eligible). Successful applicants for this scholarship scheme sign a contract stating that they must return to their home country for a minimum of 2 years in order to contribute to development of their country. Should they not return to their home country the applicant would have to re-pay the scholarship cost. We offer a total of four different scholarships to assist our students in the Masters of Science programs in either Information Technology or Public Policy and Management. For more information on each of these scholarships please click here.

The scholarship requiring students to return to their country to help in development is a creative solution to the problem of brain drain and also does encourage students to go back and help their communities without the shackles of paying back any student loans. I wonder what is a typical student profile however.

It being true that many international students are already quite industrious by their sheer nature and drive to study abroad, I am sure this program by it’s very nature recruits the best and brightest young professionals- meaning many like alumnus Bharati Das, already have had success in their chosen careers in their home country and are looking to this program for professional development and promotion rather than in initiating a fresh career. I do know in US many such programs at top notch schools are populated by students who have worked for several or many more years in the field, which gives them a leg up on entrance into the program.

If you have participated in these programs and want to share your experience you are welcome to do so by leaving your story in the comments section below.

Some quick facts about Carnegie Mellon’s campus in Adelaide, Australia:

· Carnegie Mellon University – is Australia’s first overseas university. It opened in Adelaide in May 2006 – the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management (Heinz-Au) in Victoria Square.

· Currently offering internationally recognised degrees – the Master of Science in Public Policy and Management (MSPPM); Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT).

· Two post-graduate Carnegie Mellon degree programs are currently offered at the Heinz School Australia campus, the Master of Science in Public Policy and Management (MSPPM) and the Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT).

· There are currently 100 students – representing a steady rise since 2006. The objective is to reach 200 students a year.

· International students currently comprise 50% of the total student body.

· International education is South Australia’s largest service export earner, bringing in $648 million in 2007 and supporting 3,000 jobs.

· Heinz-Au has been accredited for United Arab Emirates university scholarships, allowing fully funded post-graduate students from the UAE to apply for admission.

· Telstra scholarships: IT specialists keen to enhance their career prospects are assisted to study at Heinz-Au via the Telstra scholarship, with the first student commencing in January 2008.

· The value of the Telstra Scholarship is AUD $90,000.

Links: Press Release, Telstra Scholarship Carnegie Mellon News & Events Heinz Australia Newsletter Bharati Das – CMU Australia Alumni Carnegie Mellon Heinz School Australia Main Website Destination Down Under - Australia Favorite Destination of Indian Students