Culture Shock

When you go abroad, your daily routine, culture, and the attitudes are no longer familiar. In a new country, we become more aware of cultural norms because the norms of the new country are different from our norms in the United States. Being aware of these differences in cultural norms can be shocking and is called Culture Shock. Culture shock is not a psychological disorder, but in fact, it is a developmental phase that is both common and expected when one adjusts “properly” in a cross-cultural context. Culture shock is perfectly natural. Culture shock can be described as a clash between one’s personal way of viewing and interacting with the world (which is determined by one’s home culture) and the new cultural environment. When a person struggles through such challenges, the person grows and they mature.

 

What Causes Culture Shock?

Culture shock can result from differences related to:

Food Health Relationships Finances Transportation Communication Worldviews or values Academic Demands

 

Symptoms

Many students are unprepared for the intense feelings that accompany studying in a different culture. These intense feelings can affect your emotional well‐being, including:

Mood Stress level Behavior Identity development

Students expect to quickly adapt to the new culture, but sometimes they may need more time to adjust. Also, this process of adjusting to a new culture can aggravate concerns or challenges you may have been managing quite well at home. Some culture differences that seem exciting at first can also be stressful and quickly lead to feelings of misunderstanding, frustration, loneliness, and culture shock. There's a large range of emotions you may feel including:

Chronic physical symptoms (e.g., headache, stomach ache) Sadness Difficulty studying or working Frequent crying Nervousness Relationship stress Feeling sick often

Irritability/anger/frustration Withdrawal from others Extreme homesickness Intense feelings of loyalty to native culture Over– or under-eating Boredom Excessive sleep Poor academic performance

These feelings and reactions are normal responses to being in an unfamiliar environment and are to be expected under the circumstances. Many of these reactions last a couple of days or weeks, and do not imply mental illness or inability to cope. Nevertheless, these are occasions when the experience of culture shock can stir up deeper emotion issues. In some cases culture shock can lead to a state of depression. If you fear you are on the verge of depression or already in this state, talk to your faculty or Program Coordinator.  Do not isolate yourself. You are not alone.

 

Stages

 

1. Honeymoon:

When you first arrive in a new place and everything is fantastic. During this stage, you’re quick to find similarities between the new culture and your own. You may even find things that would be a nuisance back home charming in the new location, for example traffic.

2. Negotiation

The next stage is negotiation which is characterized by frustration and anxiety. When this effects people can vary from person to person. As the excitement gradually disappears you will increasingly encounter uncomfortable or difficult situations. The simplest things may greatly irritate you and you may express feelings of confusion, discontent, sadness, and even anger.

3. Adjustment

This stage is where things gradually get better as you settle in to a routine. You begin to get your bearings and become more familiar with the local way of life, food, and customs. You may still experience some difficulties, but you're now able to handle them in a more rational way.

4. Adaptation

This is the stage where you now feel comfortable in your new country and better integrated. You no longer feel as isolated. While you may never get back to the heightened euphoria you felt during the Honeymoon stage, you've now grown much more comfortable in your new environment.

5. Re-entry Shock

Re-entry or Reverse Culture Shock can happen once you returned home from living abroad. You might find yourself saddened that your newly learned customs and traditions are not applicable in your home country. See more below.

 

Working through Culture Shock and Homesickness

Going abroad requires that you adjust to the same sorts of things as if you would move to another part of the United States: being away from family and friends, living in an unfamiliar environment, meeting new people, adjusting to a different climate, and so on. These changes alone could cause high stress levels, but you will also be going through cultural adjustments and you may experience “culture shock.” In another cultural context, you will often find that your everyday “normal” behavior becomes “abnormal.” The unspoken rules of social interaction are different and the attitudes and behavior that characterize life in the United States are not necessarily appropriate in the host country. These “rules” concern not only language differences, but also wide-ranging matters such as family structure, faculty-student relationships, friendships, gender, and personal relations. One way to hand these changes is to understand that they are part of the adjustment to a new culture and recognize the stages and symptoms in yourself and others in your cohort. The following are tips to work through the cultural adjustment you may feel:

Take care of yourself Focus on the positive Accept that you will be homesick at some point Do not compare yourself to others Get to know your peers Find ways to relieve stress Keep an open mind Set learning goals for yourself Write down what you love when you first arrive, and look back later Make an effort to learn the local language Talk to someone Remember, there will be an adjustment, this is normal

 

Returning Home and Reverse Culture Shock
Some students encounter feelings of anxiety or shock when they re-enter the United States after being  abroad. Just as culture shock can differ greatly from person to person, reverse culture shock is just as personal of an experience. Upon return to the United States, you may find many things are different from how you left them. You may be more critical of the United States, while you now view the country of your choice in a more favorable light. From language adjustments to depression to a simple trip to the supermarket, reverse culture shock can hit you in more ways than you would expect. Often students expect to be able to pick up exactly where they left off when they return to the U.S. A problem arises when reality doesn't meet these expectations. Home may fall short of what you had envisioned, and things may have changed at home.

Many people have misconceptions concerning life in the United States such as:

 

Everything works better back home.  People are more efficient.  Everything is clean.  Things are basically the same as when I left. Personal relationships can be resumed easily. I can cope easily in my own culture.

You may actually become homesick for the place you had been, a strange feeling to experience considering you are technically home. Reverse culture shock is usually described in four stages:

Disengagement Initial euphoria Irritability and hostility Readjustment and adaptation

The inconsistency between expectations and reality, may result in: frustration, feelings of alienation, and mutual misunderstandings between study abroad students and their friends and family. Some aspects of American life that you may have been accustomed too may also come in to sharper focus compared to other countries such as:

Materialism/Abundance/Waste – Compared to many citizens of the world, Americans have expendable income. While this statement might not be true for all Americans, the majority tend to spend money on items that appear "material" to other cultures.  Coming into this American environment from a culture that is less affluent may be a shock.  Enter any well-stocked U.S. supermarket and the hundreds of food choices can boggle the mind if you have just arrived from a country with limited supplies and/or selection of goods.  High-speed pace of life – America (for the most part) is a fast-paced place. People seem to always be in a hurry. While this "fast-paced existence" may be true in many cities around the world, if you come home from a “laid-back” culture to the land of fast food, 24/7 connectivity, and non-stop activities, it takes some time to get used to.      Values/Attitudes – The values and attitudes of some of your family and friends may surprise you, especially if you have adopted new ways of thinking about the world from your experience living abroad.

 

Gradually things will start to seem a little more normal again, and you will probably fall back into some routines, but things won't be exactly the same as how you left them. You have most likely developed new attitudes, beliefs, habits, as well as personal and professional goals, and you will see things differently now. The important thing is to try to incorporate the positive aspects of your international experience in the country of your choice with the positive aspects of your life at home in the United States.