Chapter 2: The Gulf Region

Mohammed, an international student in the U.S., is from Saudi Arabia. He feels his lack of vocabulary, linguistic fluency, and familiarity with U.S. customs not only affects his understanding of class discussions but his self-esteem as well. He often does not understand the humor and the responses of his American classmates, and this hinders his interactions with them. He told his teacher, “Almost in every class, they [his classmates] share some jokes, and they all start laughing, except me. Because sometimes the jokes contain cultural references and the phrases are difficult, I feel embarrassed and stupid, so I just smile pretending that I understand what they say.” However, Mohammed maintains a positive attitude toward American people. He elaborated, “I like my American friends. They are so helpful and friendly. I decided to avoid interacting with my old friends (co-nationals) and spend more time with my American colleagues to understand their culture better.”