How to Deal With Culture Shock When Traveling Abroad

Many people traveling abroad for the first time often experience culture shock. Culture shock affects different people to varying degrees. There are also three phases of culture shock that most people tend to travel through before their culture shock wears off. This article will help you to identify the phases of culture shock and ways that you can cope and handle culture shock.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• patience
• understanding
• optimism
• positive thinking

1. First of all, you need to know the three phases of culture shock so that you can know which phase you are in and which phases you still need to pass through.

2. Phase 1 is the "honeymoon" phase during which you will feel excited about all the new things you are experiencing in this culture that is very different than what you are used to.

3. Phase 2 is the "negotiation" phase in which you begin to feel homesick and yearn for the way things are back home. At the same time, the new customs and habits in the new culture may become irritating to certain degrees.

4. Finally, phase 3 is the "everything is OK" phase in which you will have developed new routines and habits to effectively coordinate being in a new culture.

5. Remember that feelings associated with culture shock are common to most travelers going abroad and immersing themselves in a new culture for the first or second time.

6. Some ways to deal with culture shock or minimize its severity are to: learn as much as you can about the new culture before traveling abroad and while immersed in the new culture and learn a few language phrases; try not to get offended or irritated by facets of the new culture, and don't offend anyone in the new culture; be open minding about the new culture you are visiting; take time to rest and recuperate from spending time within the new culture; seek out activities that are familiar to you from your home culture (expatriate communities can help with this); realize that you will return to your home culture better educated with a wealth of new experiences, perspectives, and understandings. All of these will help to reduce the shock of adjustment.

7. Know that after spending a lengthy time in a new culture, the new culture will no longer feel new and you may experience reverse culture shock when returning to your home culture.

Tips & Warnings

• With repeated trips abroad and repeated contacts with different cultures, you will notice that your culture shock will become much less severe or even non-existent each time you travel abroad.
• Keep a positive, optimistic, and happy attitude with a sense of adventure and a thirst for learning.
• Put yourself in someone else's place to think about why they do things the way they do or why they act the way they do.