Zaenal arifin

Gutama Indra Gandha ( )

Lisa Devilia()
Ece 2013
Intercultural Adaptation Model of Indonesian Foreign Students in China
By Indonesian group: Zaenal, Indra, Lisa, Fransisca

The pursuit of high qualified education is never limited by location. Nowadays, many parents
and students would prefer overseas study. The main reason is not merely because the domestic
schools and universities are not as good as the overseas educational institutions, but rather
because of the willingness to be independent and to gain the experience of living in multicultural
environment. Language study is also one of the reasons for overseas study. Especially for Asians,
foreign language skill is always considered as one of the best assets for future employment
opportunity.

For many Indonesians, China has always been known as one of the most developed country
in the world. Chinese immigrants in Indonesia are well known for their business savvy and hard
working ethics. The vast economic growth and the unique culture of China are some of the
aspects which attract Indonesian people to visit China or do business in China. After the era of
Indonesian political reformation in the late 1990s, Chinese language has been gaining a very high
popularity in Indonesia. Subsequently, the need of Chinese speakers in Indonesia is increasing
significantly. Now in Indonesia, Chinese is the second most learned foreign language after English
in many of Indonesian public schools. Hence, until now, China is one of the most prominent
destinations for Indonesian students to continue their higher education.

Due to different cultural background, studying overseas can be hard for young students.
Indonesian students who study in China are no exception. However, many foreign students are
not aware of the importance of intercultural adaptation. The ability to adapt in multicultural
environment is necessary for foreign students in order to produce a healthy and productive study
life. There are many intercultural adaptation models created by academic experts but none of
them is based on country specific model. This article and presentation is created to provide an
alternative option of intercultural adaptation model specifically for Indonesian students who
study in China.

According to our groups observation, the cultural influence does not appear after

Indonesian students arrives China. Long before students arrival in China, usually students have
already been developing a great fascination of Chinese culture. Indonesians come to China to
study Chinese language because they know there is no better way of studying Chinese other than
living and breathing among the Chinese. These type of students normally will go through the
initial euphoria or honeymoon period in intercultural adaptation model explained in Lysgaards
(1955) U-curve pattern. On the other hand, if studying in China is not based on self initiative, for
example the students are forced to study Chinese by their parents or the students study
applications have been rejected by many schools and China is his last option, usually the students
will not be having the initial euphoria stage.

No matter what is the reason of coming to China, Indonesian students will most definitely
experience culture shock. After gathering past experiences of culture shocks from our group
members, the culture shock types can be divided into three categories: environmental,
psychological and language shock.

The large difference between Chinas weather, food and living condition with those of
Indonesia are included in environmental shock. There is no winter in Indonesia. It might be the
first time for some Indonesian students for wearing winter coat, wool scarf and boots. Indonesian
students are used to wear T-shirt, shorts and sandals all the time. They may not feel very
comfortable during winter. The drastic temperature drop during season changing might affect
Indonesian students health. Some of the male students also raised issue on the female clothing
during summer. Indonesia is a Muslim country where most women wear head scarf and they are
not allowed to show too much skin. Too much skin revealed during summer is normal for the
Chinese, but it might not be very comfortable for Indonesians. The food is also a big problem for
the Muslim because there are not many options of halal food in China. Most Indonesians who
grow up eating Indonesian food may find eating Chinese food everyday is not very satisfying. The
living conditions also need lots of adaptation process, such as students dorm facilities, foreign
roommates habits, walking distance, riding packed bus or subway, etc. Most Indonesian
complains about walking too much in China and the need of constantly changing worn out shoes.
In Indonesia, almost every working class family have private vehicle such as motorcycle or cars,
but in China, Indonesian students must walk a lot and ride public transportation. This may bring
discomfort for some of the Indonesian students. That is why there is a saying among Indonesian
students: if you see someone is wearing worn out sandals at subways, that person might be
Indonesian.

Psychological shock related to Indonesians reaction on their interactions with their Chinese
counterparts, such as classmates, teachers, school staff, restaurant waiters, shop keepers, etc.

Many Indonesians are stereotyping Chinese people they meet on the streets as rude and
temperamental. The Chinese officers and staffs are considered neither helpful nor friendly. The
language shock is probably the worst culture shock of all. It is not easy for Indonesian to learn
Chinese. In China, almost everything is written in Chinese without any English pointer. Moreover,
many Chinese people will insist of speaking Chinese to foreigners even when they absolutely
know it is hard for foreigners to understand them.

The educational shock is both psychological shock and language shock combined. The
switching from Indonesian educational system to Chinese system needs adaptation. Indonesian
students may find it very hard to understand lectures delivered in Chinese language. Chinese
students are always on time in class attendance as well as on time in assignment submission
while Indonesian students are more relaxed. Teachers and students dynamic is also not the same.
In Indonesia, some of students can have a very close friendship relation with their teachers while
in China students are expected to respect their teachers.

In order to cope with cultural shock, adaptation is the absolute solution. If the students are
willing to adapt, the suffering caused by culture shock can be minimized. The character change
within the student varies according to the adaptation result. If the students have a low ability to
adapt, he may show the separation strategy, which is not making friends with Chinese people and
only hang out with fellow Indonesian students. This strategy is not suggested because it will
create the sense of isolation and surely Indonesian students cannot improve their Chinese by
speaking only Indonesian in daily basis.

On the contrary, if the adaptation process is too extreme, the students may feel that Chinese
culture is much better Indonesian culture. As a result the students will abandon his culture of
origin and totally adopt everything from Chinese culture, which is usually called assimilation
strategy. This adaptation process is described in intercultural adaptation model of Gullahorn
(1966) W-curve pattern. It is explained that after foreign students come back to their home
country, they cannot readjust to their culture of origin. Actually, this condition is rarely
encountered in Indonesian students who study at China, but mostly found in those who study at
USA or any European country. They can be found constantly speaking in American accent and
dressed like an American even after they are back in Indonesia.

The worst case of cultural adaptation process is the marginalization strategy, which is the
rejection to adapt and zero tolerance to differences. In this case, the students will feel very
homesick and unable to study. Usually students will drop out before getting any academic degree,
move to other country or go back to their home country.

The best cultural adaptation result is when the students are able to balance their own
culture and host culture. This is known as bicultural period or integration adaptation strategy. In
this case, the students are still able to maintain Indonesian culture value but at the same time
able to absorb new Chinese culture value, as long as they are not contradictive. Replacing
stereotyping with empathy and tolerance in dealing with differences is part of integration process.
This strategy is highly suggested to be adopted by foreign students because this strategy will ease
the suffering caused by culture shock as well as creating conducive learning atmosphere for
foreigners. The adaptation strategy of assimilation, separation, integration and marginalization
are known as the acculturation strategy of intercultural adaptation.

--The End--