Day 24: Culture Shock & How to Deal with It

Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, a move between social environments, or simply transition to another type of life. One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign environment. Culture shock can be described as consisting of at least one of four distinct phases: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation. - Said Wikipedia

I'll put it this way. Simply, culture shock is a condition where you feel homesick or stress that is triggered by difficulties that you are facing while you are in foreign country. The symptoms of experiencing a culture shock can be vary. One may feel stress while other may feel sad. One can be feeling homesick while others may feel angry. Therefore it really depends on the person and the situation they're facing.

Going to Thailand was my second time going abroad. I had been to Europe once. So if you jump into conclusion that I could face the culture shock better, it's understandable. However, here is the truth. Culture shock hit me harder when I was in Thailand for a month, and it felt weird because I did not feel culture shock this hard when I was in Bulgaria for 5 months. I thought I was prepared, because I have studied this matter in class. I had never been so wrong.

I was curious, so when I felt better, I tried to evaluate myself and my surrounding. "What could've gone wrong? What things had I done differently?".

It turned out, my culture shock was triggered by my activities. I was a lot busier when I was in Thailand. I barely had time to look after myself, to enjoy things and to recharge my energy. So in this case, I believe that exhaustion was the reason why I experienced worse culture shock.

Dealing with culture shock is an easy but tricky thing. You have to find out what triggers it before you can fix it. But here are some common efforts that you can do suggested by Stacie Berdan if, just in case, you experience culture shock:

• Assume differences until similarity is proven.
• Relate to individuals, not a “culture.”
• Work with a culture rather than against it.
• Ask “what do I need to understand?” not “what should I do?”
• Listen and observe, think and then talk.
• Focus on the benefits of differences rather than simply trying to avoid mistakes.

Image source: https://worldreliefdurham.org/culture-shock