Module 3 Discussion: Moving Students Into a New Culture

It was December 18, 1970 I landed in Moscow in the heart of the USSR.  The night was bitter cold and the streets were dark.  My fellow travelers, students and faculty from my high school were shown to the elevator in our hotel, a strange contraption operated by man who looked like he might be older than the elevator.  

Those three weeks of traveling, meeting people, dining, and touring the Soviet Union changed me forever.  I believe not speaking the language, not being familar with their culture at all except they were communist, taught me so much about other cultures, politics, and current events that I was changed person by the time I got back to Virginia.

What helped me adapt was I was with a group of my piers and I was able to travel around some what and get to meet some local students.