When you move abroad, either to study, work or travel, your daily routine, your perception towards people round you and their attitude towards you, everything changes. You experience change so fast that you get pushed towards a potential culture shock. The process of adapting to these drastic changes might take a tad longer, and this is the time many people go into the oblivion of self-loathing. Criticising their decision of going abroad.
In a normal environment, our behaviour, body language, tone of voice and other things matter. However, we do not usually pay attention to them. They are our unspoken norm.
When in a new country, we realise and get to know more about ourselves. The norms we follow and those apparent cultural subtleties, we are able to identify the difference.
The world culture shock, might suggest something concerning, however, it is related to the feeling of initial dis-orientation when we are placed in a scenario where we need to cope with an altogether new life, attitudes and norms.
Mentioned below are a couple of recommendations, to help you overcome the culture shock:
Get Familiar with Your Host Country
Read blogs, travel forums, meet new people, visit the countryside, go out to have meals with your friends. All of this will not only ignite the inner excitement about knowing a new country however, will also intrigue by the sheer number of facts you did not know about the nation you are residing in.
You will always best discover the country when travelling by public transport. Apart from saving money, you will get to many things about how the local natives behave.
STUDYING ABROAD IS MORE OF CHALLENGE THAN AN OPPORTUNITY. IT MIGHT AS WELL BECOME AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER.
Make Local Friends
Most of us are a sceptic of stepping out of our comfort zone when it comes to making friends. Being confined to our own community, and making friends from our home country might impart a feeling of belonging to you, however, it will not expunge out the hiccups and apprehensions that you have regarding your host country.
Try to communicate with friends from diverse countries, get to know about their culture, their values and their perceptions towards life and other things. By doing this, you will get acclimatized to your host country even faster and might be possible you will end up making friends for life.
