Dealing with Culture Shock

• Keep in touch with friends and family at home

• Try to look for logical reasons why things happen. This may help you view your host culture in a more positive light.

• Try not to dwell on the negative things about your host culture, and don’t hang around people who do.

• Make an effort to learn about the culture by making friends in your host culture.

• Keep you sense of humor!

• Set small goals for yourself, as high expectations may be difficult to meet.

• Speak the language of the country you are in, and don’t worry if you sometimes make a fool of yourself doing it!

• Take care of yourself by exercising, getting enough sleep, eating properly, and doing the things you enjoy.

• Try to fit into the rhythm of life in your host culture. Adjust to their time schedule for meals and work.

• Find out where people meet and socialize. Make a n effort to go to those places and observe.

• Draw on your personal resources for handling stress. You’ve done it many times before, and you can do it again.

Adjusting to a New Country

Get a sense for the physical environment:

• Go on campus tours
• Talk to the secretary in your department
• Try to find a student to show you around
• Find a friend and do your own walking tour
• Note locations of shops and post offices and when they are open
• Look for recreational areas such as parks or sports facilities where you could relax and rejuvenate yourself.

  Get a sense for the norms of behavior:

• Observe people’s behavior
• How do they greet each other?
• How do they line up for a bus or train? How do they seat themselves in it?
• How do people behave in shops?
• How do people behave walking on the street?

  Be slow to judge:

• Observe first and then find a cultural informant, someone who knows the culture and then ask. Phrases like, “Tell me about . . .”, “I’m curious about . . .” or “What does it mean when . . .” show respect and invite conversation. If you demand to know “why” people act as they do, people may think you are judging their culture.
• While you are observing behavior in a given situation, you might want to be thinking about how people back home would behave in similar situations. Ask yourself why this might be different.

  Get to events where you can meet people:

• Programs sponsored by the International Club or International Office
• Student groups
• University clubs and sports

  Talk to everyone you meet:

• University employees
• Other students
• Shopkeepers

  Read local newspapers and books about the culture of the host country.

(Materials from Kay Clifford, University of Michigan International Center, 1991)

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