Network of Nations 101
What To Expect:
When you arrive in the US:
Most of you will arrive at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. O’Hare is one of the busiest airports in the world. When you arrive you will need to go through immigration and then retrieve your baggage. Once you retrieve your baggage, you will need to go through customs. After customs, you are all set to see the U.S.
If you have signed up for airport pickup, you will be welcomed by a Network of Nations volunteer. After so much travel, we are told that the Network of Nations volunteer is a welcome sight. It takes approximately an hour and a half to go from the airport to your destination in DeKalb, IL. There is early connection with the volunteer via whatsapp. please be patient as we start the logistics for pick up. Signup will start July 1, 2023.
The weather in northern Illinois may be far different than your home country. Most international Students find the winters here to be the most challenging – very cold and lasting approx. 4 to 6 months out of the year. In the fall, Network of Nations offers day trips with American volunteers to a large coat store where you can find a big selection of appropriate winter coats, hats, and gloves/mittens to purchase.
Many International Students observe that the U.S. can be a friendly, communicative, ‘smiling culture’ – especially in “the Midwest”. This can be especially true in smaller U.S. towns like DeKalb and Sycamore where you are often greeted with a smile, and a “Hi, how are you?” greeting (which often just means ‘hello’ in the U.S.).
But additionally, International Students also observe that Americans tend to be very busy with work (sometimes more than one job), family, faith/church, volunteer work, and other events. Because of this, the ‘pace’ of life here can be very fast and is highly ‘scheduled’ and planned out.
When you arrive in DeKalb:
DeKalb is a small community situated quite a distance away from Chicago. It is adjacent to another small town called Sycamore. When you arrive, you will realize that getting around town is not too difficult if you use the NIU bus system via ETA SPOT app. You will want to familiarize yourselves with these as soon as possible. Almost everything you might need can be found here in a variety of small and large stores and restaurants.
In our local stores, workers will often offer to help you find something, and as you are adjusting to life here don’t hesitate to ask them for help if you need it! This may not happen as often when you go to a major city like Chicago.
One thing you will realize after not too long is that getting out of town is not that easy. Because of this, you will want to take advantage of outings provided by Network of Nations or by Northern Illinois University.
Transportation is also available to students from the Holmes Student Center to go to the train station called the Metra in Elburn to Chicago. The bus takes approximately 35 minutes in travel to the train (18.7 miles)
https://www.niu.edu/visit/maps/bus.shtml
https://ridertools.metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/UP-W
This link will allow you to see in coming and out going schedules. The trains are punctual.
When you attend NIU:
If you are attending Northern Illinois University, you will find a great deal of resources available through the university. These resources will be thoroughly explained to you at the international student fair and during orientation week.
The University also has an office that is equipped to handle most of your needs. The International Student and Faculty Office are available to handle most things that arise during your time at the University.
When you arrive at Intercultural Café:
One of the many things that Network of Nations does for International Students is provide a safe place where you can meet others. Our weekly Café is actually a dinner provided by volunteers who love serving people.
The Network of Nations Intercultural Café is on most Friday nights of the school year and is a great place to get to know people from other countries, students and community members.
Café is a fun place to be and at times specific countries are highlighted with music, food and every once in a while, even cultural nights.
The Intercultural Café is only a three-minute walk from the Northern Illinois University’s Holmes Student Center. It is located at 511 Russell Road, DeKalb, Illinois at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Go to the Right side door and walk down the stairs to the basement. It is warm and welcoming.
Culture Shock:
When you arrive in a new place with people of a different culture, it is normal to have culture shock. Though there are many similarities between people of different cultures, there are also many differences. Those differences are often accentuated in our minds when we arrive in a foreign environment.
Not only is the food and climate different, but the people often act differently than what you are accustomed to. Greetings are different, personal space is different, the sense of community is different, social values may be different and you may even need to speak a different language.
All of these differences create stress that wears on our bodies and minds. Sometimes we are so busy that we do not even realize the affect the new culture is having on us until a great deal of time has passed.
Common Signs & Symptoms:
Loneliness
Sadness
Insomnia or Excessive sleep
Anger / Irritability
Feeling lost
Lack of confidence
Good Ways to Cope:
Understand that what you are feeling is normal
Exercise and eat well
Talk through your feelings with others
Keep in contact with family and friends back home
Work on making new friendships
Have items that remind you of your own culture, family & friends
Find places that sell foods that you are familiar with.
Try cooking foods that you enjoy from your own culture
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions:
If you have any questions, we will try our best to help out!
Where to Find:
International Groceries
We have found that spices are very important to internationals. If you want the food you make to taste like it does in your home country, you will definitely be wanting to purchase spices that are not normally found in U.S. grocery stores.There are some great stores with international groceries and spices that are located a half hour away from campus, but there are some good options for purchasing spices locally as well. We recommend the following:
Gurukrupa Indian Grocery is the best one-stop shop for Indian international students and has almost all the items required for Indian cuisine. It is located at 1005 W Lincoln Hwy in Dekalb very close to the campus.
The International Grocery Store located about a 7-minute walk from the NIU Holmes student center. It is a small store with a good selection of difficult to find spices. We are told that if they get enough requests for special spices, they will add it to their selection. The store is located at 817 W Lincoln Highway, right next door to McDonald’s.
Ruby’s Asian Market is a small Asian food store located on 1406 Sycamore Rd. just beyond the Jewel-Osco grocery store. If you don’t find what you are looking for, they may be willing to order it for you. If neither one of these places has the groceries you are looking for, we recommend purchasing them online and having them shipped to your residence. A good option for doing this is Penzeys. You can search for spices from your region by using words like “Indian”, “Asian”, etc.
DeKalb Fresh Market, 304 N. Sixth St., DeKalb
Northern Illinois University Information
International Student and Faculty Office
Northern Illinois University Student Job Search
Shopping and Restaurants
The DeKalb area has many different restaurants that you may enjoy visiting. Some of these are located very near to the campus, others in Downtown Dekalb and others are a short distance away by car near the major retail establishments. There is a limited selection of restaurants with international foods.
Almost anything you need to shop for is available locally, and if it is not available here, you can most likely have it shipped to your place of residence in very little time. Walmart and Target are the two biggest retail stores in the area and carry anything from food to clothing to medicine. Another place you will want to get familiar with is Aldi food store. This store has a reasonably good selection of food and the prices are generally the best in the area for food. These stores along with many others and a variety of restaurants are accessible by taking the NIU Husky bus # 7. Winter gear can be purchased in Dekalb also at TJ Maxx, Blains, and Ross. Please make sure the gear will be suitable for deep cold weather.
Food Pantry
A food pantry is a good place to find food in times of need. Food pantries provide a surplus of food for when people can’t shop for food. Here is some info on all the Food Pantries in the Sycamore-Dekalb area.
Greyhound Bus Service
Greyhound bus service from DeKalb to Chicago is possible but not very convenient. Greyhound takes 2 hours to travel to Chicago, and a return trip from Chicago is not really possible on the same day. Current departure times from DeKalb are 9:20 AM and 3:05 PM. Return trips from Chicago are only available at 6:25 AM and 3:30 PM.
The cost for one way tickets are between $11 and $20 depending on the time of the year and the day of travel. This means a round trip will cost between $22 and $40. Tickets can be purchased online or at the NIU Holmes Student Center. Hours of operation at the student center vary, so purchasing online would be simplest.
Hotels
Hotels can be found on the Airport Pick Up sign up page at the bottom of the page.
Phone Numbers for Medical Emergencies
Here are some important numbers to keep for any kind of emergency. We have listed numbers for hospital emergency rooms, urgent care, poison control and a pregnancy center.
We recommend saving these numbers in your phone, or writing them down so you will have them on hand.
Northwestern Medicine Kish Hospital – (815) 756-1521
KishHealth System Physician Group – (815) 748-8300
Physicians Immediate Care – (815) 754-1122
Poison Control – (815) 222-1222
We Care Pregnancy – (815) 748-4242