INDONESIAN STUDENT CULTURE SHOCK IN THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Many students have a goal to achieve success by getting a better education, one of the countries that is a destination for Indonesian students to study abroad is China, but the covid-19 that was endemic at that time in Taiwan made Indonesian students try to adapt to the situation. government policies and culture. The study entitled "Indonesian Student Culture Shock in the Republic of China During the Covid-19 Pandemic", aims to explain how students communicate during the Covid-19 outbreak and express students' feelings and hopes in conditions of self-quarantine and social distancing due to COVID-19. The theories used in this study include interpersonal communication, culture shock theory, phenomenological theory, the hybrid sociocultural framework theory and communication adaptation theory. This study uses a phenomenological method, a qualitative descriptive approach with a constructivism paradigm. Data was collected by interviewing four Indonesian students studying in Taiwan at two different universities. The results of the study found that the adaptations made by students from Indonesia regarding the new culture in Taiwan and the current epidemic of Covid-19 will lead them to a better communication relationship or vice versa. In terms of adapting to the new culture in Taiwan, students from Indonesia have begun to be accepted by the new environment and have felt that they have succeeded in adapting, which means they have good communication relationships with Taiwanese students and other local communities.