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Culture shock is the process of adjusting to
a new country and a new culture, which may be dramatically
different from your own. You no longer see the familiar signs
and faces of home. Climate, food, and landscapes, as well
as people and their ways all seem strange to you. Your English
may not be as good as you expected. You may suffer, to an
unexpected degree, from the pressures of U.S. academic life
and the fast pace of life.
If you feel this way, do not panic. Culture shock is a normal
reaction. As you become adjusted to U.S. culture and attitudes
and begin to know your way around, you will start to adapt
to and understand your new surroundings and way of life.
International students experience culture shock in varying
degrees; some hardly notice it at all, while others find it
terribly difficult to adapt. There are usually four stages
of culture shock that you will experience.
The "Honeymoon" Stage
The first few weeks in your new home will be very exciting.
Everything will be new and interesting, and you will likely
be so busy getting settled and starting classes that you may
hardly notice that you miss home.
Irritability and Hostility
As you begin to realize that you are not on vacation and that
this is where you live, you might experience anger and hostility.
Sometimes you may feel hostile toward Americans and their
way of doing things, and even trivial irritations may cause
hostility to flare.
Understanding and Adjustment
In time you will come to better understand your new environment
and will find, maybe even unconsciously, that you are adjusting
to your new home. You will experience less frequent feelings
of hostility and irritability.
Integration and Acceptance
Finally, you will find that you have come to feel that, at
least on some level, you consider your university or college
and your new town, your home. You will have made friends and
will feel that your community accepts you just as you have
accepted it.
The length and intensity of each stage depends upon the individual,
but no one escapes it completely. The important thing to remember
is that you are not the only one experiencing these feelings.
Many others before you have gone through it, and there are
others all around you who are dealing with culture shock.
Below are some of the common symptoms of culture shock and
some suggestions to help you get over these hurdles.
Homesickness
You miss your homeland, your family, and your friends. You
frequently think of home, call or write letters to your family
and friends often, and maybe even cry a lot.
It is good to keep in contact with home, but do not let this
get in the way of meeting new friends and enjoying your new
home. Make an effort to meet new people, in your residence
hall, in class, and through the international student center.
You might also want to join a committee, interest group, or
sports team on campus or in your city. Find one thing with
which you are comfortable — for example, music, food, or an
activity — and make this the starting point toward making
yourself feel at home in America.
Hostility
Minor irritations make you unusually angry, and you feel life
in the United States is the cause of your problem. You feel
your expectations have not been met.
It takes time to get used to life in a foreign country and
many things need to be relearned. Be patient and ask questions
when you feel you do not understand. Maybe your expectations
were too high or too low, and you need to readjust your perception
of what it means to live and study in the United States. Talk
to your international student adviser and try to find ways
around the problems that are angering you.
Dependence
You become dependent on fellow nationals, friends, or your
international student adviser and feel you cannot achieve
anything by yourself. You are scared of doing things by yourself
without somebody else's help or approval.
It is good to have people you can depend on for the first
few days. However, at the same time, you should gradually
take on the challenges and "do it yourself." It
is all right to make mistakes and to learn from them. You
should also try to make various types of friends, not just
your fellow nationals, to fully take advantage of your American
educational experience.
Loss of self-confidence
You feel everything you do is wrong, that nobody understands
you, that you have trouble making friends. You start to question
the way you dress and think because you are afraid not to
fit in.
If you feel everything you do is wrong, ask for feedback
from someone you can trust, such as a friend or your international
student adviser. What may be wrong is not how others perceive
you, but how you perceive yourself. You should not be worried
about the way you look, act, or think. The United States is
a very diverse country and Americans are used to people with
different looks or ways of behaving. Most important, do not
lose your sense of humor.
Values shock
You might find yourself facing situations that are not accepted
in your culture and have trouble getting accustomed to them.
For example, relationships between men and women, the informality
of American life, political or religious attitudes, or the
social behavior of Americans may seem amoral or unacceptable
to you.
Look for information on the things that surprise you or make
you feel uncomfortable, and try to remain flexible, respectful,
and open-minded. This can be a great occasion to learn more
about topics that might be less popular or taboo in your country.
Try to enjoy the new cultural diversity and the various cultural
points of view. It might be helpful to talk to someone from
the same culture or religion who has been living in the United
States for a while to discuss how this person has dealt with
values shock.
Other strategies to cope with the stress of culture shock
include:
- Make sure you know what to expect before you arrive. Carefully
read this guide and other books and magazines on the United
States to find out more about American life and customs.
It would be a good idea also to read up a bit on U.S. history
to find out more about American people, their government,
their national heroes, their holidays, and so on. This will
help you orient yourself physically and mentally when you
arrive in the United States.
- Eat well, sleep well, and take good care of yourself.
- Exercise is a great way to alleviate stress and tension.
Join a sports club or pursue some outdoor activities.
- Find some time to walk around your new neighborhood. This
might help you develop a sense of home as you find the local
stores, parks, activity centers, and so on. Try to carry
a small map of the city with you so you will not get needlessly
lost very often.
- Keep in touch with family and friends to tell them about
your experiences.
- Take some time to relax. Listen to music, read a book
not related to your studies, and go to bed early once in
a while.
- Do not lose your sense of humor. Laugh at your mistakes
rather than getting depressed about them.
"I had a lot of trouble at first getting adapted to
living in the USA. What frustrated me most was that I did
not know how even the simplest things worked! For example,
I had never used an American-style washing machine before
and ended up ruining some of my best clothing. It took me
a long time also to get used to the American bank system,
since I had never used automated teller machines or personal
checks. Other simple things like temperatures and measurements,
for example, were difficult to understand because Americans
do not use the metric system like in my country. Sometimes
I felt like a real idiot, and that made me quite depressed.
But after a while, I could do all these things without even
thinking about it. I guess I just had to give myself a bit
of time to learn."
— Diana, Bulgaria
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