When you go outside your home country to study or work, you acquire a lot of unique and exciting experiences. You will meet new people, try out different cuisines, learn about different cultures, and explore new landscapes. Spending time outside your home country can also have a big impact on your life. It can bring positive changes to your approach and outlook. However, apart from all the positive effects, this change of scenery can also lead to some negative things. One of those negative things is the phenomenon of “culture shock”. In this post, we will take a detailed look at what it is and how you can manage it. Let’s get started.
Culture Shock: All You Need To Know
If you have never had the opportunity to live abroad before and you are going for the first time as an international student or as an employee, this process can be difficult and tiring for you. Whether it is language education abroad, university education abroad, high school or graduate education abroad, culture shock is experienced at some point, especially in long-term programs.
Anyone who goes abroad for a long time experiences culture shock. While some people can successfully overcome this phase, others may have difficulty accepting the culture of a new country during the acclimation process. If you are preparing to change the country for the first time for education, training or work experience, it means that you will go through the stages of culture shock.
What is Culture Shock?
Culture shock is the definition of the confusing and unsettling emotions that a person experiences when he/she is involved in a new cultural environment. It is generally experienced after living abroad for a certain period of time. Therefore, it is not observed very often in tourists, that is, people who make a short-term change of the country (though if you are travelling between countries with drastically different values and cultures, you might experience a culture shock in a short trip as well).
Anthropologist Kalervo Oberg used the term culture shock for the first time in 1960. It is the case of leaving your culture and social environment that you know and know and going to a country change for a long time affects you negatively.
As a result, you are suddenly confronted with completely different languages, gestures, facial expressions, and different customs and traditions of people who are unfamiliar to you. You try to adapt to new cultural values and traditions alongside your own culture, but it’s never easy. No matter how well you know the new country you choose to live in, no matter how mature you are, you will face culture shock. Being a social person and being exposed to other cultures does not change the result.
Cultural shock is often incorrectly referred to as a mental illness. Because culture shock can present itself as a mental illness to those who are unaware of its symptoms. There is no standard for how long these symptoms will last and how intensely they will affect the person. It totally depends on the person.
What are the causes of Culture Shock?
- Cultural differences (such as music, visual arts, performing arts, etc.)
- Religious differences
- Eating habits
- Social life, customs, traditions, and customs
- Language differences
Depending on the above-mentioned reasons, physical and psychological symptoms are seen in people at varying times.
What are the symptoms of Culture Shock?
Culture shock is not caused by a particular event. For example, questioning yourself in the country you are going to, feeling that you do not know the rules of that country, etc. Situations like this push you to experience culture shock. When it comes to the symptoms of culture shock, it can be said that it has physical and psychological effects on you.
Physical symptoms of culture shock
- Stomach ache
- Headache
- Back pain
- Loss of appetite or cravings for overeating
- Feeling unhappy, tired, or frustrated
- Inability to sleep
Psychological Symptoms of culture shock
- Feeling lonely and alienated
- Feeling misunderstood and easily agitated
- Fear of communicating with the native people of the new country
- Refusal to learn the language used in the new country
- Complaining about everything
- Praising your own culture and not accepting the new culture
- Worrying about your own country
- Constantly criticizing the people of the new country
- Being against everything new
- Feeling obliged to live by adapting to others, not your own identity
- Not trusting anyone
- Worried about being cheated on and robbed
- Creating a safe space in your home in the new country and constantly making excuses not to go out
It is in your hands to overcome these symptoms in a short time and enjoy your time in the new country completely.
What are the different stages of Culture Shock?
Culture shock, which is a feeling of transition to a new country, has 5 different stages.
Observation Phase
At this stage, the differences between your own culture and that of the new country seem fun and exciting because you are exploring a new place. At this stage, you are affected by the differences between the countries. Details such as its landscape, cultural habits, and pace of life are interesting to you. This phase can last weeks or even months.
Worry Phase
This stage is characterized by frustration and anxiety. It usually manifests itself in the first three months. This stage may appear earlier for some. Excitement slowly fades, difficulties begin to arise and uncomfortable situations begin to occur. You may get lost on the way to your home because of the signs, and you may not know how to order at the restaurant. At this stage, you start to miss your family and friends because the natives of the new country no longer seem friendly to you. Minor physical ailments can also occur, usually in the second phase.
Familiarization Phase
In this stage, anxiety is left behind and you reach the third stage between 6-12 months on average. Your life begins to heal. You are now more familiar with the new country’s lifestyle, food, and customs. You start to make friends and understand the local culture better. Difficulties will always occur at this stage, but at this stage, you can cope better with difficulties.
Adaptation Phase
This phase is also known as the bicultural phase. You no longer feel lonely, you get used to your daily activities and friends. It is no longer the New country, you feel that you belong. Your new environment is now like your home.
Getting back home (reverse culture shock)
When you return to your home after living abroad for a long time, this time you experience a reverse culture shock. At this stage, when you return to your home country, you realize that many things have changed, that it is not the same as when you left and you feel excluded. The customs you learned while abroad are no longer valid in your home country. In addition, the adaptation process you went through will be experienced again when you return. All of this can make you worry again.
How to manage Culture Shock?
Culture shock is an inevitable situation that will be experienced by those who have plans to live abroad for a long time. Therefore, accepting this situation and preparing yourself to adapt as much as possible will help you get through this process more easily. Here are some ways you can manage culture shock:
Remember that you are not the only one to experience this situation
Do not forget that everyone who goes abroad for a long time encounters such situations. You are not alone, or mentally weak because you felt some culture shock. Suffering through culture shock does not indicate that something is wrong. This is an important part of the experience of every new citizen going to a new country. In this adventure, you will experience different cultures and traditions in a different country, of course, you will experience the bad side as well as the good side.
Create your own space
Everything will be new in the country you go to. You have a lot to discover. However, it is very important to get special items in your suitcase that will make you feel at home so that you can adapt to your accommodation faster. Thus, when things start to become too much for you in your new home, you can protect yourself in a private area that you have set up.
Be open-minded
Welcoming surprising ideas and being open-minded are seen as one of the most effective ways to deal with culture shock. Be more inclined to say yes. Accept event invitations, try different dishes, try to help your new friends, mingle with them, and try to assimilate with the new culture (without sacrificing your entire identity). Discover for yourself the customs and traditions of the new country. However, it’s also important to make sure you’re understanding, safe, and healthy, and don’t push yourself too hard.
Explore
Try to stay away from living in isolation. Go and explore the new place. Be sure to use public transport. Go on excursions, and shoot places you find interesting with your camera. Take care to be active in your city. Only in this way will you get involved in life, learn and make new friends. Don’t use your usual route. There may be a shorter way, try to find it. Try not to take the same route to work or school every time. Promise yourself that you will visit a new place every week.
Find something you love
Find what you love to do in the country you’re traveling to for study or work. Try to do activities that will do you good when you feel stressed and overwhelmed, such as sipping coffee in the park or taking a walk in the mountains. Taking actions that will cheer you up and remind you why you came to this country will make your life easier!
Learn something new
Learning and practicing a country-specific dance style, learning how to prepare a local dish or learning the language of that country, etc. Engaging in something exciting and new, such as something new and exciting, will help you get through this period more easily.
Remember that culture shock is an important part of your experience of living abroad. If you accept the feeling of culture shock and try to practice ways to deal with it, it won’t affect you deeply. Thus, you can continue your life with much more pleasure in your new location. Manage the initial shock and then immerse yourself in the wonderful culture of the new place.