Culture Shock & Homesickness
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Whether it is for a few months or for a longer period of time, moving abroad is a decision that entails curiosity, a will to learn, an open mind and adaptability.
Sometimes, even when you feel confident and ready, reality might be different from what you had imagined and you might find yourself wondering if going abroad was a good idea. You may experience something that the experts call “Culture Shock”. There are different stages to culture shock, which will be discussed in more detail below. The stages and experience are unique to each individual; perhaps you may go through all the stages or just one whilst some people do not experience any at all. It is also common that some people may even go through some stages of culture shock more than once and it is something that can happen as soon as you arrive in a new place or even up to months later.
With culture shock the prime concern is on adjusting to a new environment, but you may also experience homesickness where you feel emotional distress when away from the place you consider home, or from a familiar environment and can occur at any time, and for those who have moved away permanently or temporary. Homesickness may look and feel different for many people, but the most common symptoms include low feelings, grief over the loss of familiar surroundings, withdrawing and avoiding people and activities, and being easily irritated by new things and places.
Whilst many will experience both culture shock and homesickness together, it is possible to experience one without the other. So, whether you're dealing with culture shock, homesickness, or both, the stages, experiences, and how to respond to them are all relatively similar, and we hope that the following advice will be of assistance.