It is a big controversial subject that how much an international student should
assimilate in the new culture. The result can move on a big scale. Depending on
the person and its relationships it can cause depression. Two of my friends
Aniko and Ivan are assimilating differently in the new culture. Aniko and Ivan
share some similarities in the new culture. They both come here for the same
reasons. They wanted to improve their language skills. Also they wanted to get
an American degree. In addition they both wanted to continue their athletic
carrier. Like Aniko, Ivan was accepted easily by Americans because they both
good athletes. In the beginning the magic of the new life stile leave the
emotions and differences deep inside. However just because Americans like them
playing for them it doesn't mean they can assimilate easily. For international
students it's much harder to decide how much to assimilate because their stay in
the U.S. is usually temporary. Depending on personalities either way this
students going to have problems. So after the magic of the firs weeks the
differences were "braking up to the surface". Although Aniko and Ivan
have similar attitudes, they also differ in many ways from each other. They were
both spoiled a bit (which they told me them self), but Aniko was more open for
changes, and could hide more her emotions. In the end of the third week Ivan
started to "freak out", while Aniko looked like the same as the first
two weeks. It was easier to see how Ivan changes because he is a funny guy.
While his emotions were really on the surface, we could tell easily that
something was wrong because he wasn't funny anymore. On the other hand Aniko a
quiet tipical model of a "nice girl", so it was hard to tell most of
the people when she had some problems. Aniko was close to a total assimilation,
while Ivan just assimilate partially. Now, a distance of a year and a half I can
tell they differ from each other pretty much. Ivan made mach more friends from
his natives than Americans. His using his own language much more than english
when his not in school. On the other hand Aniko has much more American friends
than native, and most likely as a result of this she is speaking english 99
percent of the time. She also becomes Americanized because she doing the same
activities that Americans doing, for example she watching tons of TV shows. The
effect of a new culture change people different ways. Even Aniko and Ivan who
had similar background, personalities and goals become two really different
persons in the new culture. In addition from what they do and what king of
friends they make to how much english they use we can tell the differences
easily. However, how is this going to influence their future no one can tell
yet.