Culture Shock (And how to survive it!)

Culture shock is real. It is universal, powerful and usually unexpected. That’s why it comes as a shock!

Our home cultures are deeply embedded during childhood. We don’t need to do anything for this to happen. Just grow up and take part in society, meet our fellow-countrymen, keep up with fashion, technology, and current affairs. Culture is often defined as “the way we do things around here”, and this goes for entire national cultures, regional, local and even business cultures. It’s the collection of, often unspoken, rules that regulate behaviour.

Move, as I did, from the UK to Japan and the difference in the way things are done really hits you in the face! My first reaction was excitement. I felt like an explorer in an exciting new universe. I was trying out a new language, a new geography, new technologies, new standards of dress, transport, behaviour…everything was full of interest and possibilities. That’s stage one of culture shock. The exciting stage. It can last from a few days to several months.

After a while you begin to adapt. The exciting things start to become normal. Some of the new things stop being exciting and start to become annoying. In my case I discovered after a few months’ trial and error that I really did not like Japanese food. I took for granted the superb train system and the wonderful level of service in shops. But I spent time searching out ways of not having to eat sushi, sashimi, seaweed, raw egg, and tasteless noodles. I really didn’t (and still don’t) like it. It irritated me that good ingredients were being wasted to produce such unpalatable (to me!) meals. I also grew irritated that my obvious “foreign-ness” made me stand out in crowds, and that the Japanese always used to stare at foreigners. In my case this discontented stage lasted more than six months.

Then comes a more balanced stage. Acceptance that some aspects of the new culture are great, some are not, but that a fulfilling and generally happy life is perfectly possible. You stop getting cross about the things you don’t like and cannot change, and you consciously relish the aspects of the new culture that work well for you. My guess would be that this stage of balanced acceptance of the new culture can go on for years.

Sadly there is one final kick of culture shock that you have to deal with. It’s called “re-entry shock”. When you go back home, either for a visit, or permanently, the differences between your home culture and the one to which you have adapted will shock you all over again. Things familiar from your childhood take on unfamiliar overtones. Some are great. The sound of your mother tongue, the sight of your family and friends. But there will certainly be things you used to take for granted that now seem absurd, poorly organised, or backward. In my case the Britain I returned to after three years in Japan seemed to be very badly organised, rather unsafe, and to suffer from very poor service in shops and transport. (This was the 1970s, by the way. Things have improved a lot since then!). But it was wonderful to be able to blend into the crowd with no one noticing me, and staring at me. And to be able to buy clothes that fit me! The sense of reverse culture shock, albeit in a greatly reduced form, has never really left me.

So that’s a very brief examination of culture shock. Now, how do you survive it? The good news is that you have already started the process. Just reading about a problem prepares you a bit for the experience of it. The more you read, especially about the specific place you are going to, the easier you will pass into the stage of balanced acceptance of the new culture. The magnitude of the shock you experience depends on where you come from, and where you are going. So it’s very helpful to talk to people who understand what those differences are, and who can pick out the key differences you need to prepare for.

If you live in IELTS Jakarta, and are preparing or hoping to live abroad to work or study, speak to the Aim team. They can help you minimise the shock of your relocation, and get into the stage of balanced acceptance really quickly. That’s where you want to be; it’s the stage during which you’ll be most relaxed, most productive, and least stressed. Good luck!