The initial stage of the international sojourn: excitement or culture shock?

ABSTRACT

This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of the adjustment journey of international postgraduate students at a university in the South of England, which involved interviews and participant observation over a 12-month academic year. It was discovered that the initial stage of the sojourn1 was not characterised by feelings of excitement, as suggested by the U-curve model (and its successors): though such feelings were present, they were overwhelmed by negative symptoms more commonly associated with culture shock. The implications of these findings for support structures in higher education are discussed.

Keywords:

• international students
• adjustment
• first stage
• excitement
• culture shock
• support

Notes

1. The term sojourn is used by Ward et al. (2001) to refer to temporary between-society culture contact.