Will I Have " Culture Shock" ?

Will I Have “Culture Shock?”

            Yes! Whether we want to admit it or not, anyone who moves to a place where people’s language, behavior, ideas, and ways of thinking are different will experience some degree of “culture shock.”

            Just as me, the first two weeks were a kind of a honeymoon for me to be pleasantly surprised here and there. I could find new staffs or fantastic restaurants every day, However, studying abroad is not that easy as I expected. The first semester was the hardest. I soon realized how heavy and demanding the courses were with all reading chapters, quizzes, papers and projects. The cafeteria food was totally not my Chinese taste and all my family and friends were so far away. I was also difficult to make Canadian friends because I moved from class to class, and I was so different from my Canadian classmates in cultural background, personal experience. I had no idea about their popular topics and the things that amuse them so much! Although they didn't bother to speak to me, I didn't know how to start a conversation with them. I kept silent and felt very much isolated.That period was quite frustrated to me. 

            I believe many international students had same experience and feelings just like me. So that is called" Culture Shock".

            Culture shock can be understood as a set of feelings a person has when faced with a very new living situation. The feelings include:

• excitement and stimulation
• confusion
• tiredness (sometimes made worse by difficulty sleeping)
• homesickness
• depression (low energy, lack of motivation to do anything)
• anger and hostility toward the local people
• anxiety and sometimes paranoia
• questioning whether they have made a mistake in going to the new country

            Some new students are more affected by these feelings than others. The feelings last longer for some people than for others. Some people feel reasonably comfortable in their new setting within a few weeks; for most people the period is longer—several months, or a year or more.

             Culture shock can also set in after we has been in the new country for a period of time, even years after arrival. For example, One of my friends realized after a long time in Canada that an assumption she had been making about the Canadian was not correct. She then need to reinterpret things she previously thought she understood.

             In my opinion, culture shock is not necessarily a bad thing. It can make you more alert and inquisitive, and give you motivation to learn more about the place you are now living. It can also encourage you to look for new ways of thinking and acting, so you have a better chance of getting what you want. It can make you a more flexible person. Culture shock is not an illness that requires medical treatment. Normally, it passes with time.

              Many of my Chinese friends told me that they had “reverse culture shock” when they return to China. Perhaps without realizing it, they have changed in important ways while in the Canada. In addition, things at home may have changed too. The result is that returning students have to readjust to their own culture and society.

             I think I have been away twice as long as I have been gone. This is my true feeling after I returned back to China last summer. While I have been away from home and changing, the people back home are changing too. They are having experiences I am missing. So, if I have been away and changing for one year, the people back home have been changing for one year also. This means I need to face total two years of changes when I go back home.