CULTURE SHOCK

Symptoms and stages

What is culture shock and how to avoid it

Nino Tabatadze
[email protected]
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What is culture?

To start with, the definition of culture.

Culture is a word that we often come
across. We are all part of a culture, we
are often intrigued by other cultures, and
culture is an integral determinant of who
we are as individuals. So, what exactly is
it then? Simply, culture is the unique
characteristics of a group of people.
Culture is made up of many elements,
some more obvious than others. Culture
is the clothes we wear, the language we
speak, the food we eat,religion, lifestyle
etc. Culture is our customs, our beliefs,
and our values. Culture is the identity of a
group of people living in specific place;
They have their own sketch of life what
the culture says they follow that.
Different people define culture in
different ways.

What is culture shock?

In the globalising world, more and more

people go abroad for work or study. Culture shock has been widely present in intercultural
communication. The experience of moving and going to settle in a new environment is never always
interesting. Culture Shock is the disorientation and change that is experienced after an international
relocation. The change is always due to difference in weather, culture, language, customs, values,
landscape, mode of dressing and food. You will feel as if you are in the wrong place; everything will
appear abnormal and you will often find things hard to comprehend. Culture shock is normal and won’t
last forever;  To explain what the culture shock really is I want to take my example. Last winter I went to
Italy on an exchange program for 6 weeks. Almost everything was different for me. Firstly, kindness of
strangers, they were incredibly kind, helpful welcoming and generous. After a few visits, it was not hard
to get to know my local restaurant owners or servers. They soon treated me like family. Italians aren’t
just loud and crazy. They are loud, crazy and super wonderful.They are happy to help you out expecting
nothing in return. Even if you have never met them, or if they do not know the language, you speak,
they will do their best to help you. It is also shocking how much Italians can communicate even when
you do not speak Italian. In addition, the language barrier was not a problem. The most annoying culture
shock, for me, was shop hours. Everything was closed for at least 2 hours in the afternoon (lunchtime),
chemists’, groceries, shops...

In a nutshell, Culture shock is a sudden exposure to unfamiliar culture. It is normal but sometimes very
unpleasant and negative experience.
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Causes:

Information overloads – too much new culture, all at once;

Role shifting – normality is gone;

Personal shock – tiredness, confusion, lost;

Culture shock is a reaction to language, travel, jet lag, climate, food, clothing etc.

Symptoms:

In most cases Culture Shock will appear like homesick for most people. Although many people will have
different signs of culture shock, it is never hard to tell that someone is suffering from culture shocks. The
most common is that someone may look sickly. They will feel sad and lonely. The following are common
signs of Culture Shock; Sleeping problems, either sleeping too much or insomnia, getting angered really
fast, feeling of being a target, homesickness, getting obsessed with unusual stuff like cleanliness and
urge to cook, feeling insecure and shy, missing your home culture and the fear of learning a new culture
and trying to adapt. People differ greatly in the degree to which culture shock affects them, but almost
everyone is affected by it in one way or another.

Symptoms in general:

 Nostalgia
 Homesickness
 Depression
 Sadness/crying
 Family conflict
 Inability to concentrate
 Too much/ little sleep
 Too much/ little
eating/ drinking
 Hyper-irritability
 Loneliness

Stages:

The Honeymoon stage: a new

place, new sights sounds
smells tastes. You are very
positive, curious, and new
exciting experiences. You
even idealize the host culture.
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Rejection stage: anger, irritability, sees only bad things. You start to feel that what is different is actually
inferior. The host culture is confusing or the systems are frustrating. It's a small step from saying that
they do things in a different way to saying that they do things in a stupid way. You may blame your
frustrations on the new culture (and its shortcomings) rather than on the adaptation process.

Regression phase: moving backwards, nostalgia about your country, eating familiar food. In addition,
you feel more relaxed and develop a more balanced, objective view of your experience.

Acceptance stage (adaptation and biculturalism): you become more comfortable with the local customs.
You feel a new sense of belonging and sensitivity to the host culture.

Re-entry shock: You go home and it is not what you expected it to be.

Ways of avoiding culture shock:

 Understand - It is common to experience culture shock when living in a foreign country.

That is why it is useful to understand why you might feel a bit insecure or anxious. You
are faced with a different climate, values, attitudes, lifestyles, languages, and political
and religious beliefs, which can for sure be a little overwhelming.
 Accept and adapt - Try to recognize that you are experiencing a culture shock. Realizing it
can help you deal with it better. Culture shock can be overcome when you accept and
adapt to a foreign culture.
 Learn and be open-minded - Learn as much as possible about your destination. As you
learn and become open-minded it is easier to understand the differences, see things
from a different perspective and thus adapt. Learning some keywords in the local
language helps a lot as well. “Knowledge is the key.”
 Positive attitude - To get more out of your experience; make sure to focus on all the
positive aspects instead of having a negative mindset. Spend time with positive-minded
people, have fun and feel the good vibes
 Be in contact with home - It is good to stay in touch with family and friends back home.
But remember, if you spend all your time connected to them, it just keeps feeding
homesickness even more. So, forget your phone for a while and go exploring
 Do not compare - You will see differences everywhere but try to avoid comparing those
with your home country. It won’t help you to settle in. Instead, see the differences as an
opportunity to learn about a new culture and grow as a person
 Stay active - Start a new hobby and enjoy things you cannot do back home. The activities
favored by locals, eat Asian food, find the hidden gems of the country… The list could go
on and on. Since you are already staying abroad, why not take full advantage of it and
do all the things you were dreaming of.
 Explore - Go see new places and explore the surroundings. It will help you to appreciate
your new home and you will gain lots of priceless experiences. Don not look back and
say what if…it is a once in a lifetime experience – enjoy it WHILE YOU HAVE THE
CHANCE
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