COPING WITH CULTURE SHOCK

Culture shock is the term used to describe the range of reactions we experience when we find ourselves in a new and unfamiliar environment. Those vulnerable are people who go to work in another country; students who decide to study abroad; young people who go into homes abroad as 'au pairs'; and anyone who chooses, or is forced by political or economic necessity, to leave their homeland and settle elsewhere.

When you meet significant differences in lifestyle from those you are used to in our own environment, you become confused. The new customs challenge your ideas of normal standards of behavior. The most common areas of difference are:

• language
• styles of dress
• food and eating habits
• interpersonal relationships
• climate
• hours of working, eating and sleeping
• religious customs
• behavior seen as appropriate to men and women
• laws and regulations
• political systems

Because you take for granted your own culture's habits in these areas you need time and perspective to adapt to the changes you see around you in your new environment.

The symptoms and stages of culture shock

Initially, the excitement of a new situation is challenging and enjoyable. You look forward to meeting new people, seeing new places and opening yourself to new experience. Typically, however, the very newness of it all becomes overwhelming. What at first seemed exciting looks alien, sometimes even frightening. You may feel very lonely, have sudden mood swings, you may overreact to trivial events and have strong feelings of homesickness. Some people even experience physical symptoms such as sleeplessness or aches and pains. This, the second stage of culture shock, is the most difficult phase to deal with. It is important to remember that it is entirely normal and that it will eventually pass. As you become more familiar with the host culture, you will gradually find that you can re-evaluate it and some of the new life patterns will become attractive. You will be able to settle into the new way of life with a more balanced attitude.

When you face the second stage of culture shock, it is important to look for sources of support and help. If you are working in a foreign country, then try to find co-nationals with longer experience of the new environment than you. You will be able to discuss your reactions with them and swap experiences; you will also be able to talk about your home country and share your feelings about how living abroad affects you. Try to set up a network of such contacts with whom you can exchange books, magazines, videos and disks from back home; perhaps cook familiar food together; in fact, generally acknowledge that you need links to your own culture so that you fell less cut off and alone. If you have interests and affinities that you can share naturally with other people such as sports, religious beliefs, hobbies, then seek out groups that practice these activities because the shared outlook will make you feel you belong. Make full use of electronic connections too. Use e-mail and chat facilities to keep contact with family and friends. In today's world, there is often no need to be totally cut off from your background.

If you are a student, make full use of the support facilities on offer at your educational organization. Join clubs and groups of co-nationals to get the kind of support described above. If you have access to an academic counselor, make full use of this service. Once you have a network of support, you will be able to move on to the stage where you can start to appreciate the host environment and put the differences in perspective.

While you are setting up your support systems, try also to maintain a non-judgmental attitude to the host culture. Just because things are different here, they are not necessarily wrong or worse than what you are used to. Remain polite to your hosts and show interest in, rather than hostility to, all the new customs you find. Be observant about how people relate to each other:

• how do they greet each other
• how do they dress
• when and where do they drink alcoholic drinks
• are they punctual
• how loudly do they speak
• Try to speak at least a little of the local language; people will respond well even you make mistakes. In other words, try to fit into the host culture rather than go against it. After all you are the guest and they are the hosts.

As you gradually begin to settle in to your new environment you find that you start to enjoy it and to feel that you have grown intellectually and emotionally because of the broadening of your horizons that this experience brings you.

Curiously enough, people returning to their home country from abroad often have very similar difficulties in readjusting to those they had on settling in somewhere new. At first there is the joy of returning to what is familiar, to friends and family. Then you find that things at home have moved on; people may have left the area or no longer seem to welcome you in quite the same way as before. Then you start to judge your own country by the standards of the one you just left and you start to miss the environment you had grown used to. Remember that you will need a similar period of readjustment before you can settle back in again. In the end, however, you will be the richer for your experience and will have a wider perspective on the diversity of human society.

Reprinted with permission.
Article  ©1999 by Brenda Townsend Hall, all rights reserved
http://www.worldsapartreview.com