At Colorado Mesa University there are currently 107 international students from more than 30 different countries. With the number of people coming from different cultures and speaking different languages, there’s a big chance you will meet one of them! How do you approach this? What should you do, and more importantly, what shouldn’t you do?
First, imagine yourself in their shoes. You are in a different country – maybe even on a different continent than all of your friends and family. You’re in a place where people might even be speaking a different language than you’re used to and they have unfamiliar habits and traditions. In addition to that, you’re in a different time zone.
Although the jetlag disappears soon enough, your friends and family literally live in another time zone! Colorado has an approximate 8 hour time difference with Europe and a 16 hour difference with Australia. This means that most international students will be saying goodnight to their family and friends in the middle of the day here.
It’s important to be patient and understanding towards international students. Realize they don’t have the same social habits as you might have and that English probably isn’t their first language. When was the last time you spoke anything else but English? It’s likely you were pretty nervous about it. International students might be nervous as well.
You can even try to learn some words or phrases in their native language. Being able to greet them in their own language will make them feel more at home. I’ve already given you one of them already, in the title; “Hey, hoe gaat het?” is how you would say “Hey, how are you?” in Dutch!
Being open and welcoming starts with one of the easiest things – learning their name. People from different countries might have names you’re not used to, but do your best to pronounce it correctly! When you disregard someone’s name too quickly, or don’t even try to say it correctly, it can feel like you don’t care or couldn’t be bothered to learn their name.
Also, try not to jump to conclusions too fast. They might know more about America than you realize and you might be surprised at how many similarities there are between your countries. Forget your stereotypes and get to know the person actually standing in front of you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about where they’re coming from – it can be a great icebreaker!
So, whether you meet them in a club, in class, at a party or at a sports game, don’t be shy. Approach them, broaden your view on the world, and who knows? Maybe you’ll make friends from all over the world.
