Embrace the world, and you may grow. Edinburgh, Scotland.
Excitement, anticipation, curiosity, happiness, thrill...culture shock? These are just some of the emotions a student feels when traveling abroad to study with their University. Studying abroad can be extremely rewarding and one of the most memorable moments of a lifetime, but it can also involve incidents or frustrations that will leave you longing to catch the next plane home.
When traveling a student may encounter many cultural differences which can lead to culture shock. In our own culture, there are many elements that surround us, and that influence who we are as people and how we perceive the world. This native culture is what shapes us as a person.
Different cultures, different experiences. Lock on the love wherever you go. Paris, France.
When this feeling of comfort or symbols of familiarity of the native culture are lost, a person falls into a state of culture shock. This culture shock is a psychological discomfort that is felt when faced with foreign situations. Culture shock is a natural logical reaction, and just one of many phases students will face when getting accustomed to their new culture and surroundings.
The phases a student will experience include: Being fascinated with all the new things you are experiencing, feeling uncomfortable because you feel as if you don't belong, rejecting and labeling the foreign culture and people as being strange, learning to decipher foreign behavior and customs, and accepting and enjoying the foreign culture.
When studying abroad, throughout the phases, a student will experience a wide range of emotions. They will be fascinated and excited by their new surroundings, and may then take more notice to anything, "Un-American." This could lead to some hostility towards the new culture which is another form of culture shock.
In order to prepare for this journey, before going abroad, students may read up on where they are traveling (i.e international newspapers, guidebooks, novels, etc.), talk with friends who have traveled to the same location or an international student, and/or ask their study abroad office for an advisor.
Overall, it is simple to get past culture shock as long as one uses their mind. Make sure to always keep a positive attitude, be optimistic and open to new ideas. These mixed with some time will help people adapt to cultural differences. These differences may even become preferable to that which one is used to in the United States. The steady balance of new culture experience and the native culture, will help people to grow culturally and become more diverse in thinking. Before you know it, you won't want your study abroad trip to end.
