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Adapting to New Culture, “Culture Shock”
”Culture is everything that is created by man and that is transferred from one man to another through learning.”
’A culture shock’ is an exaggerated term which describes the stress caused by adapting to a foreign country and to a foreign culture – the stress caused by this quite a big life change. A culture shock at different levels always shows up when a person moves from a familiar environment to a new one (for example, when changing job, entering into student life, transiting from student life to work life etc.).
The safety net created by your family, friends, relatives and familiar environment is left behind in your home country and you need to create a new one in a new place. A sort of a fear of loosing the mental balance is always in the background of ’a culture shock’ as everything seems to be different in the new culture and nothing seems to be safe and sound. An individual feels that no one understands him and he does not understand why things are not going like he thinks they should.
The teaching culture at the host institution might be different and the administration model bureaucratic. The standard of (student)accommodation may not necessarily be as high in the host country as in the Nordic countries. These are only a few practical things that may be different from what an exchange student is used to. You might find differences in deeper level in communication, behaviour and other social customs which are based on cultural differences in beliefs, norms and values. Observing and getting used to the latter differences is much more challenging than to the former.
It is good to know that this so called culture shock is something that everybody will go through and therefore you should prepare for it. Symptoms and the strength of the ’shock’ may vary a lot and they can appear in different times. The symptoms are, among other things, a feeling of continuous tiredness, a desire to be left alone, being absent-minded, various fears (a fear of getting cheated or getting sick), lowered motivation to study, an excessive reaction to small setbacks, homesickness, longing for familiar things, a desire to deal with ’smart’ people, a general feeling of being abandoned, etc.
The most important thing is to recognise and be aware of the different stages of adjusting to a new culture. Then it is easier to deal with the stress of being in a new culture, the 'culture shock'. You should know that the stress can be even stronger in a country of western culture because you may not be able to realise the cultural differences in advance and the discovery of the differences at a more deeper level will take some time.
The process of adjusting to a new culture has five stages:
- ENTHUSIASM: the initial enthusiasm, everything seems to be beautiful and wonderful and interesting in the new culture, so called `honeymoon`stage, you experience the new environment very positively.
- CRISIS: the change, everything seems to be bad and annoying in the new culture, frustration, irritation and tiredness are common feelings, so called stage of 'culture shock'.
- ADJUSTMENT: you learn to accept the differences of the new culture and stop seeing things only in black and white, you learn the ’cultural language`.
- BACK TO NORMAL: you accept that you are a part of the new environment and learn to know its culture at a deeper level, you feel almost like being at home in the new environment.
- BACK HOME: reverse culture shock, you are not exactly the same after being on exchange and coming back home will require re-adjusting to the 'old and familiar' environment.
You should get as much information as possible about the host country before going on student exchange. You can get the information from the EVTEK libraries, from the International Office, from public libraries, from embassies and tourist agencies, from the Internet, etc. All this information will help you to adjust to the new culture but it will not exclude the possibility of so called 'culture shock'. There are many ways to reduce the stress of adjusting to the new culture:
- First you should recognise the adjustment process and its different stages because only then you can be prepared for its symptoms and cope with them as they may require.
- Returning back home is not the best choice even if you sometimes may feel so. “Quitting” may dishearten you later and things may not necessarily get better at home.
- Neither should you isolate yourself and create a “bubble” against everything by avoiding everything local as this will not help you to adjust.
YOU SHOULD INSTEAD
- keep in mind that learning the new cultural language is the only way to adjust yourself and the first step is to realise that problems are caused by cultural differences and communication problems that arise from them. Try to get to know local people and other exchange students as it will help you to cope with the adjustment process
- for example, get a hobby, create routines, pamper yourself every now and then, do not forget the good experiences and contacts that you already have, keep in touch with your family and also with the new people that you have met, learn the language, accept the culture of the host country and its differences.
- keep in mind that there is always a place to contact or a person to turn to and that you should not try too much.
- realise that returning back to daily life after a good student exchange period may feel challenging if the re-adjustment shock hits you. It may help you if you can share your feelings and experiences with the students who also have been on student exchange and know how you feel after you have returned home.
YOU SHOULD BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOUR ABILITY TO SURVIVE!
”The circle closes: You might be sighing with relief during a couple of weeks after you have returned home and think how wonderful it is to be back in Finland with friends and relatives. Life is nice and easy again. You can take a warm shower whenever you like and you do not have to freeze inside. You are an ordinary Finn among other Finns and nobody pays any attention to you. After a while, as life has returned back to normal, you might feel a strange yearning - a yearning for an adventure and for new challenges. You will find yourself reading travel books and brochures and wondering when would it be the right to go abroad again – to the same country or to a new, foreign culture. The difficulties that you met in the other culture have become small and insignificant and all you can recall are the good memories. Good luck to you! If you have come this far, next encounter with a new culture will be much easier than the first time.” (Minna Aro: ”Opiskelijana vieraassa kulttuurissa” (”As a Student in a Foreign Culture”), Helsinki, Opetushallitus, 1998).
(For further information, please see section Useful Wbsites and References.)