Sociocultural adaptation and its triggers among international students in the context of Germany

Anya

Academic reasons

“They also had a good study program that was very similar to the ones that I studied home”

Liam

“In terms of my studies, international business, Germany being centrally placed where a lot of export is happening. They have a lot of association with other countries, and a lot of international companies are here.”

Vincent

Residency Plan

High intention

“I would love to move to Germany to do [...] volunteer project or Master degree or both.”

Milena

“I'm planning to stay here for at least 3 years to practice what I've learned and the environment that I studied. [...] Then I can think of other places or to stay longer.“

Vincent

“The plan is to finish my master also in Germany - to get a working permit - so there is this window to Europe...”

Anya

Low intention

“Is Germany really the culture I want to live in my whole life? That is very questionable.”

Anya

“I would love to visit Germany. [...] but I don't want to live in Germany full-time.”

Angie

Adaptation Level

Positive progress/High level

“...after staying there for three months I didn't feel any problems...”

Milena

“I think I was pretty well adapted since the language is so similar in many ways and that also the culture isn't too different.”

Liam

“I feel like I've generally assimilated pretty well in German culture.”

Angie

Ecological adaptation

Challenges

“There was some particular event that scared me in Germany, when we got lost in the first day [...] because our train didn't come to our final destination...”

Milena

“It was a little bit terrifying going to the grocery stores.”

Liam

Ecological adaptation

Challenges

“In America [...] everyone drove everywhere. And in Germany I had to take bikes and I had to ride the metro system, and that was really new for me. [...] For sure the transportation system was hard.”

Angie

Positive Aspects

“What amazed me in a good way was the city of Karlsruhe - the urban image of the city: small houses, trains and lots of space for people. [...] It's not something that we don't have in Russian cities...”

Milena

“I was feeling an authentic connection to Germany only in a relation to city”

Milena

“In terms of getting what I want in the city [...] I'm comfortable. I know where to get everything.”

Vincent

Language proficiency

Everyday usage

“...why should I try to practice my German if everyone could speak good English which is quite easier for me to talk?”

Milena

“I didn't have big problems with speaking German cause I didn't speak German in Germany.”

Milena

“I understood some, but sometimes they speak very fast and, like, have dialects. That was a big problem. Cause then I just nodded and smiled sometimes.”

Liam

“I really did my best to speak totally in German as best I could.”

Angie

Language Learning

“ I don't think it [German language] really became better a lot [...] before it was a very chaotic knowledge, and after that it was more systematic”

Milena

“I know that there are some similar words. But the structure, I remember learning this, figuring out how to make this word.”

Angie

Challenges

“One of the things was the language which was really a burden for me because I couldn't express myself in a way that will help me to bond with other people.”

Vincent

“I'm competent to do some job. But because of my language [...] I have to do some worse jobs that meet the requirement of not knowing the language that much.”

Vincent

“First thing - they [future international students in Germany] have to learn the language. The life will be a bit easier.”

Vincent

“The biggest challenge was the language. [...] Was very different from English. [...] And I kept mixing up with French.”

Angie

Academic Performance

Cultural differences

“The school system was hard, so they had like two 50-minute breaks [...] it made no sense to me.”

Angie

“The culture they had at school. They were always together”

Angie

Bureaucracy

Challenges

“...the first challenge was the bureaucracy of Germany, when we were trying to get this residence permit and the health insurance card [...] That was really nervous.”

Milena

“... be prepared for a lot of paper work...”

Vincent

Coping

“She [a buddy - person assigned to help international students] used to help me a lot with the bureaucracy stuff”

Milena

“I rely mostly on the Ausla?nderbeho?rde, a foreign authority, they are really helpful, they provide me all the information I need...”

Vincent

Psychological adaptation

Comfort zone

“...when you come to a new place, you always feel like you're not in your comfort zone...”

Milena

Psychological Adaptation

Comfort zone

“...to explore and go out of your comfort zone a little bit.”

Liam

Open-mindedness

“Always be open-minded, because when I came here it was a culture where they support open-mindedness.”

Vincent

“...keep and open mind...”

Angie

Culture shock

“The first days were [...] utopian because I'm experiencing new people, new kind of living. [...] In some months I feel the culture shock: where I was used to the things I was doing back at home, they don't really apply here...”

Vincent

“I had very naive assumptions of how Germany [...] would be. [...] I did things that were culturally inappropriate.”

Angie

“Boarding school was a shock. [...] I had a major mental breakdown because of the people I met there, and also the study program was intense.”

Anya

Acculturative stress

“...you always feel whether these people are going to admit me or [...] ignore me and they don't like me.”

Milena

Coping

“...trying to relax and also getting good food and a good walk around the city, that was [...] practice of stress-release for me”

Milena

“talking to friends which stayed in Russia at that moment. So it's also a way to solve the problem.”

Milena

Independence

“As I am living in a flat, I have the control over my life and more freedoms than in the boarding school - and therefore I like my German experience better.”

Anya

Acculturation strategy

Separation

“I didn't feel like I am trying to plunge in the culture.”

Milena

“I used to have the same habits as I had in Moscow and I'm feeling like it was at home”

Milena

“I was feeling a lot like Russian [...] You're feeling like it's something very yours and you feel a bit excited”

Milena

“I don't like to embrace the culture of the country that I'm in until I'm not there anymore. When I was in Germany, I did my best to stay American.”

Angie

“I will not accept ideas that are in violation with my values and the way I was brought up - I very much appreciate the fact that I was raised in Russia. [...] I try to not show my disagreement with the German values that much anymore. Telling myself to shut up in such situations.”

Anya

Integration

“I tried to keep a balance cause I didn't want to lose track of how I usually am and how I usually act. But I tried to be more social...”

Liam

“It [international community] makes me somewhere in between, from knowing a bit of German culture together with other cultures. And also to retain my own culture...”

Vincent

Discrimination

“In some part of the country that I visited, a lot of staring, and then I'm, like, okay, maybe it's a new thing to them”

Vincent

“I experienced a lot of discrimination due to being a different-looking person in Germany.”

Angie

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