Culture Shock: The Emotional Roller-Coaster.
“This is so exciting, I can’t believe I’m in a foreign country. I can’t wait to try all of the food, hear people speak a foreign language and meet new friends.”
“Wait, this is a lot harder than I thought. We eat dinner way later than I’m used to. I can’t go anywhere on my own because I can’t speak the language. It’s hard to make friends when we can barely speak. I miss my friends and family.”
“Okay, this isn’t too bad…I got this. I’m starting to hold conversations, I can order my own food, go grocery shopping and ask for directions. My friends can speak faster than two words per minute for me to understand now. I really feel like I’m understanding the social norms.”
“Wow. I’m dreaming in a foreign language. I’ve made some of the best friendships here. I love going into town and exploring things on my own. I feel like I could live here forever.”
“What? It’s time to go home? But what about all of the people I just became so close to? What about the food? I can’t leave. I feel like a completely different person that has lived a whole different life, and now I’m expected to go back to my “normal life” before living abroad?”
The rollercoaster of emotions is normal. It’s important that you can understand the different stages of culture shock, so that you can try to embrace them.
A Roller-Coaster of Growth.
Experiencing culture shock can feel like you’re at your all time lowest point. But, just remember that you’re becoming much stronger through the experience. Embrace each stage. When you’re feeling symptoms of culture shock, try to reassess why you’re feeling that way, and remind yourself that it is temporary.
Check out The Ultimate Guide for Culture Shock that I designed to illustrate each stage, how to recognize symptoms of shock, and how to embrace it:
Shout out to Rotary International for first introducing me to the stages of culture shock before I went to Brazil in 2011. Learning about what to expect beforehand can help you to cope with the shock.
I’d love to hear from those of you who have experienced some degree of culture shock while living abroad. Are you able to identify how long you experienced each stage? How did you embrace it?
Physically Here, Mentally Abroad... 