[denzil_correa]

> Not just for people from Asia, this applies to anybody going to a different country.

I agree with you. That said, there is higher probability of Asian students being in Europe and USA for a Ph.D than vice versa (context of this post). Therefore, while the advice is indeed applicable to anyone - I prefer it to be directed in order to be more concrete. The reason being Asian societies (certainly Indian ones) are not individualistic in nature. Therefore, everyone tends to follow the crowd. There is a set pattern - school -> college -> job/Masters/Ph.D -> House -> Marriage -> Kids. A departure from the usual is not encouraged and even frowned upon.

[dorfsmay]

But even within the western world, even within Europe I've seen people going to a different country and immediately looking for people, restaurant and news source from their original country.