Culture shock is something that will most likely occur to you on long travels, and even more often when we travel in more distant countries because of cultural differences. Do you know the feeling? Has it ever happened to you? How did you deal with it?
Many people travelled into distant countries and had to deal with culture shock which may not even happen if you’re not travelling long enough – culture shock is following the ‘’honeymoon’’ stage when everything is exciting and new.
What is culture shock and why does it happen?
The term cultural shock was first introduced by Kalvero Oberg in year 1954. He wrote that cultural shock is fear which derives from being in contact with a new culture. It is a feeling of being lost, being confused and incapable which happen because of losing culture habits and social parts. The causes are different, one of them is stress which happens because of need for adjusting and understanding a certain culture. Culture shock usually happened when we’re in a certain culture or country for a longer period of time.
How to recognize culture shock?
Culture shock happens suddenly and can make your trip very hard. First signs of culture shock is being home-sick, tired, feeling isolated and afraid. Because of that, you start to reject the new place. If you find yourself in a situation like this, try to understand your feelings, be aware of them and find out what cultural differences scare you. If you will deal with the culture shock, your trip or moving to a foreign country will be much easier and you will only get the best out of situation.
How to deal with culture shock?
It is important not to have prejudice before travelling. Look at the country that you’re travelling to objectively and do some research before visiting it so you will know what to expect. If you will learn some words in the country’s language, you will adjust faster and you will show to the locals that you’re ready to meet them and their culture. It will also be easier for you if you decide that you will write down something you like about the country you’re visiting in a journal. May that be the festivals, kind people or afternoon siesta – write it in your journal and read it from time to time to remember the nice things that happened. If there’s something you really miss from home, try to replace it with something they have in a foreign country – if you liked to hike at home, find some hills nearby and hike in the new place also. Remember that culture shock is a normal part of adjusting to a new country and you can turn it into something positive. In time you will find new friends, get new hobbies and overcome the annoying culture shock – maybe even so much that when you come back in your country, you will get a reversed culture shock.
