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.

Stages of Culture Shock

Honeymoon stage

During the honeymoon stage everything seems perfect. The place you just moved to looks idyllic, everything is exciting and fascinating. You can’t wait to explore the surroundings, get to know the city and find your favourite spots. You will find positive interpretations and have a feeling of confidence that everything will be great or perhaps even the decision to move was the best you ever made.

Distress stage

During the distress stage you might start having doubts. After some time, places do not feel so new anymore, you start noticing things you didn’t before, things that might annoy you. You may feel like this place is not that perfect after all, things may work in a way that is unusual to you and you might have difficulties understanding why. You might blame your frustration on the country, forgetting that it takes some time to adapt to a new place.

Some may encounter an additional “sub-phase” that we can call “Idealization”. In this case, you may start idealizing your home country. You may start remembering only the best things, and homesickness might kick in. Suddenly your home country seems like the only place that suits you, the best place to be.

Adjustment stage

After all those doubts, you might slowly start seeing things in a different light. You will not just see the negative aspects, but you will also start seeing again those things that made this place look so fascinating in the beginning. You will start to get used to how things work in this new place and you will feel a new wave of positivity.

Adaptation stage

This is the time when you finally start feeling at home, you are getting used to how things work and you are finally starting to call this your new home. By this time, you might have already found your favourite spots in the city and you might have met new people, made new friends. Probably your schedule will also be more organized by then and you will start having a new routine.

Reverse Culture Shock

While we often hear about culture shock when being in a new place, however, ‘reverse culture shock’ is also something that can occur when you return to your home after a period abroad. It can often be a physical and mental adjustment, readjusting and familiarising yourself with a different place, especially when it is likely you have become accustomed to where you have been living and studying abroad.

There are many symptoms and everyone has their own experience or perhaps experience none at all. The signs of reverse culture shock are generally similar to that of culture shock given it is the same experience, only in reverse.

Some signs to look out for include:

  • confusion
  • isolation
  • boredom
  • uncertainty
  • misunderstanding
  • changes in relationships
  • rootlessness or lack of belonging

If you find yourself struggling to readjust when you go back to your home country, it is important to be aware of how you are feeling, be mindful of the symptoms and seek help or speak to someone if you are struggling. 

Ask For Help

In some cases, culture shock and homesickness may generate depression-like symptoms. If you feel like this may be your case, remember to ask for help. You may feel alone, but you never are. Please, talk to University Staff members, friends, family or your tutor about how you are feeling.

The University has many services that you can reach out to for help if you find yourself needing to speak to someone or struggling:

  • Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS): FSHS includes professionals such as social workers, psychologists, nurses and many other professionals to help you with mental health related matters.
  • University Chaplains: You can speak to the University Chaplains about anything from work, studies or other areas of life in a safe environment.
  • Mieli SOS Crisis Centre: The Mieli Crisis Centre offers free short-term crisis counselling in cases of emergency, offering help and mental support for anyone living in Finland.
  • If you would like more information, the University’s Mental Wellbeing Instructions also provides additional information and services that you can contact for support.

Practical Tips

To help you make it through or ease your experience of culture shock, here are some tips you may find useful.

  1. Read, ask, explore: Try to learn as much as you can about your new home already before moving. You can read about their habits, what is considered rude and what are common ways to act in different situations. This way you will face less obstacles once arrived, and also meeting locals and making new friends should be easier. You can also ask from people who have already been in the same country, use forums and blogs.
  2. Goals: Make sure you have a clear set of goals you wish to achieve during your stay. You are visiting a new country and you are going to study there, what do you wish to learn/discover? What skills do you wish to gain/improve? Try to make goals that concern both your personal career as a student, but also the culture of the country you will be living in. For example, if the country has a national sport, go watch a game!
  3. Things you love: write down a list of things you love about the country when you arrive. Things you are fascinated by, that make this place so interesting. Keep the list and use it to look at it later, whenever you feel frustrated. It will help you remember why you chose this place.
  4. Self-care: under periods of stress or worry, it is common to overlook and neglect taking care of yourself. Incorporating meaningful experiences, hobbies or activities which you enjoy into your day is so important in maintaining a balanced and happy feeling. There are many ways to recover after stressful times including exercise, sport, reading, doing something creative or simply relaxing.
  5. A piece of home: There is a famous expression that goes “Home is where the heart is”. Bring something with you that will remind you of your loved ones. Home can be anywhere you feel happy and comfortable, and having a picture, a book, a letter from the ones we love and who love us can be a great help in moments of need. Also, keeping in touch despite the distance has probably never been as easy as it is right now. Use video-calls and emails and keep in touch with your family and friends. Sharing your experiences as they take place will make you feel closer to them, as if you never left.

Remind yourself that all your experiences are normal: To summarise, anything you’re feeling is a normal reaction to new and sometimes stressful circumstances. It’s what you do with your experiences that really matter!

Exercises

Here are some exercises that you may find helpful when dealing with your experience of cultural shock and homesickness:

Introspective exercises

  1. Investigate which phase of cultural shock you are experiencing right now. Are you experiencing characteristics of several phases at once? Which other phases have you experienced previously?
  2. Have you ever experienced cultural shock before? Maybe when you started university and had to adapt to its culture? Have you lived abroad before? What was your experience like back then and how did you deal with any experiences of cultural shock?
  3. Make a list of 10 things that you can do to take care of yourself when things feel difficult. Put it in a place where you can find it again later (top tip: hide some chocolate in the same place!).
  4. Make a list of new things that you’re excited to experience while you’re here. What would be really cool to have done? Write down at least ten, but include as many as you can come up with!
  5. Consider which of your personal values have taken you here. Why did you choose to come here? In which way is this experience making you more the person you want to be?

Exercises that you can try “out there”

  1. Do something new. It could be as small as trying out a new thing to eat, or as big as you like.
  2. Do something nice for yourself and try to experience it as fully as you can. When you take good care of yourself, you have more to give to others.
  3. Do something nice for someone else. Altruistic actions have been shown to bring happiness to the person doing them, so it is a win-win situation!
  4. Immerse yourself in your surroundings. Challenge yourself to really see, feel, smell, hear and taste anything that you experience. Enjoy everything that is there to be enjoyed! Try to consider whether there is something familiar, or something you have never noticed before?
  5. Do something that scares you a little bit but that is safe and that you are excited to try.

Reading Material on Culture Shock and Homesickness

The subject of culture shock and homesickness is, naturally, a vast one. While we hope that the information provided will assist you in dealing with the situation you may find yourself in, we have compiled a list of useful reading material that will help you learn more about culture shock and homesickness, how to cope with it, and some material that will help you learn more about Finnish culture and way of life.

  • The Psychology of Culture Shock – Colleen Ward, Stephen Bochner & Adrian Furnham (2015)
  • International Students’ Study Abroad Challenges: Culture Shock (2016)
  • The Re-entry Roadmap: Find Your Best Next Step After Living Abroad (2018)
  • Culture Shock! Finland : A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette – Deborah Swallow (2013)
  • The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu – Katja Pantzar (2018)
  • Finnish Nightmares: An Irreverent Guide to Life’s Awkward Moments – Karoliina Korhonen (2019)