People picture Woodstock as an international and inclusive school, but the lived experiences of the international students can reveal unique challenges to overcome and surprises you might not have expected.  Every time a new student from overseas comes to Woodstock, a different set of ‘culture shocks’ can occur and, with this, new challenges emerge that we must face as a community. 

Food Challenges

When I first joined Woodstock in the last semester of ninth grade, it was already tough as an international student because I felt that everyone had their own established friend groups, except for me. This made my entry to Woodstock a bit different from others as I didn’t get the “traditional” new kid experience.

However, what was hardest for me were the cultural shocks I experienced within the school and community.

The main cultural shock I experienced was the food. I know that it must sound like a typical problem that all foreign people face. However I had a really hard time with food because everything in Indian cuisine has new spices and condiments, and adapting to eating new food every day is challenging. Additionally, a lot of people had misconceptions about my country, Argentina. They thought that we ate spicy food as usual, but that’s not the case. I come from a culture where we eat food with seasonings without the need to be spicy, such as chimichurri which is an oil-based sauce made of fresh herbs, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil.  In Argentina, meats such as beef are staple parts of meals. But because beef is extremely restricted in India, I had to get used to the fact that I wouldn’t be eating it for a long time! 

When I went to Peru, as part of the GAIL conference, I realized that my Indian classmates struggled with food as they were vegetarian, didn’t eat beef or it was just too flavorless.  It made me realize that the culture and eating habits that we learn from our communities are always going to be there and it’s difficult to change that part of yourself. So for all the new international students who are having a hard time adapting to the food,  it will take time and at some point, you will start liking the spicy food (hopefully). 

Teacher-student relationships

When I was talking with students from Kenya, Indonesia, the United States, and Myanmar most of them talked about their relationship with teachers. Many of us come from cultures where it’s normal to have a casual coffee with a teacher and talk about life. An example is that “If we walked by a teacher, a five-minute conversation on how life is going would occur, but in Woodstock, the most common is a quick “how are you”, “I’m good, how are you”. This highlights how there is a different way of relating to the teacher, in a more formal and respectful manner. Adapting to this dynamic was challenging because we couldn’t completely open up and express ourselves to the teachers.  We come from an environment where it was normal to have a close relationship with your teacher and we had to adjust to a more structured way.  This made me realize how different cultures can be because what I thought was normal around the world was something unique to some cultures. Along with that, it helps me learn different ways of connecting with my teachers and that there is a lot of diversity of communication styles across cultures. 

Social dynamics 

Talking about friendships, a lot of the international students were slightly shocked at how the friendships at Woodstock worked. Many of them commented that there was a different dynamic between boys and girls, observing that they don’t interact as much here as they do back home.  From my experience, the relationships between boys and girls at Woodstock can be seen as how they don’t hang out with each other unless they are in a relationship. This made a big difference from mine and the international students’ culture, since we come from countries where it is normal to have a group of friends with mixed genders. Back home I had a group of friends which included boys and girls. We used to enjoy meeting and having Asados, which is the Argentine BBQ, enjoying the music, sharing food and games, or going to a pool club and playing bowling. Not being able to do what I typically would do back home makes me feel limited and miss the comfort of the familiar routines. 

Language Barriers

Last but not least, A factor that all international students agree on is the unspoken separation that international students feel from Indian students because of the language. Hindi is the colloquial language of students in dorms and around school which makes it difficult for those who don’t speak the language and are from outside of India. Hindi is the everyday language in the school, from the bhaiyes who help us around the school to the conversations that some of our classmates have in class.  Although it’s not a day-to-day problem for international students, it does impact during class nights or a school party when the majority of the songs are in Hindi and not in English. This makes it difficult for international students to adapt to Woodstock life because they don’t feel welcome in the community.

Call for Action

While I was interviewing the students I asked them what things could Woodstock do to improve the integration for international students. All of us came up with some points of things:

  • They would like to know more about Indian culture by having more opportunities to interact with the Mussoorie community on the weekends. 
  • More integration of their culture into Woodstock life, and their community to be recognized in Woodstock. 
  • How much do international students like the Indian traditional festivities like rakhi, Hindi diwalis, or having Indian dancers at schools? Because they learn more about Indian culture and traditions. 

Takeaways

In conclusion, all international students have different perspectives, and not all of us felt the same when we first came to Woodstock. Some of us felt welcome and included and some of us felt excluded and that we didn’t fit in. Some of us struggle more with the food and the traditions, while others struggle with making friends and the social norms that Woodstock has. All international students have different perspectives that are valid and need to be respected. It’s important to give voice and opportunity to connect with the new international students who don’t know how to express themselves and feel excluded in the community.

Indira, Class of 2026, is a staff writer at The Woodstocker

Edited by Priyanshi and Trishana from the Class of 2026, co-editors of The Woodstocker.