文化冲击.docx
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文化冲击
Cultureshockisthetermusedtodescribehowpeoplefeelwhentheyareexposedtoanunfamiliarcultureorwayoflife,andthefeelingofdisorientationandseparatenesstheyexperience.It’saconditionthateveryinternationalteacherfeelsinvaryingdegrees,whetherthey’renewtoteachingabroadoroldhandsatit.
Luckilycultureshockfollowsafairlypredictablecycleandthereareanumberofwaysyoucanprepareforitandlessentheimpactofitonceyou’vemadethemoveoverseas.
Unfortunately,whendescribingcultureshock,itcomesacrossasanegativethingtobeavoidedatallcosts,andI’vejusttoldyouit’sinevitableforanyonewantingtoteachabroad.It’simportantforyoutorememberthatteachingoverseasisanopportunitytoexploreotherculturesandenjoyabetterteachingenvironment.Yes,youwillexperiencecultureshock,butyoucanmanagethisandit’snotallbad!
Factorsthatcancontributetocultureshockare:
*Peoplespeakingadifferentlanguage,dialectorwithanunfamiliaraccent.
*Dealingwithadifferentcurrnecy,moneythatisadifferentcolour,feelandvalue.Keepingtrackofexchangeratescanbecomeatiresomechorewhenlivingabroad,soonceyou’vereceivedyourfirstpaycheck,don’tbother.Earnlocal,spendlocal!
*Peoplebehavinginunfamiliarways,evenlocalcustomscanvaryfromoneendofacountrytoanother.
*Spicyand/orunfamiliarfood.Youmayneedtosubstitute‘like’ingredientsinyourfavouriterecipestoo.
*Peoplestaringatyou,ifyouareinacountrywhereyourskincolourorfacialfeaturesstandoutasbeingdifferent,thiswillhappen.
Ontopofthisyou’llbethenewteacherinschool,sotheproceduresandpolicieswillbedifferenttowhatyou’reusedtoathome.
Recognisingcultureshock
Recognisingcultureshockforwhatitisandacknowledgingwhichstageyou’reinisthefirststeptolesseningthegripithasonyou.Forexample,ifyousuddenlyfeellikeyouhateyournewteachingjobbecauseofhowharditistomakethepurchasingdepartmentunderstandwhatitisyou’retryingtoorder,recognisingthisasaneffectofcultureshockcanhelpyouadjustyourbehaviour.
Whenyoufirstgettoyournewhomeyou’llfeelhappytobethereandeverythingyouseeorexperiencewillbewonderfulandnew.Thisisthe‘honeymoon’stageofcultureshockanditfeelsgreat!
Itcanlastfromseveraldaystoseveralmonths.Thisisthetimewhereyou’llbesendingloadsofemailstoyourfriendusingwordsandphraseslike‘awesome’,‘bestdecisionI’veevermade’,‘don’tknowwhyIdidn’tdothisyearsago’.Recognisethisstageofcultureshockandenjoyit.
Nextcomestheperiodoffrustration,fullofsituationsliketheexampleabove.Whenyousinkintothispartofthecycleyou’llbegintodislikeeverythingaboutyournewhome.It’llbetoohard,toosmelly,toohot,tooloud,andeverythingelse‘too’!
Thisisalsowhenhomesicknesscouldstrikeyouwithavengeance.Youmayfindyourselfdevelopingahostileattitudetowardseveryonenotofyourownnationalityandculture.Youroldhomewillsuddenlyseemlikethebestplaceintheworldandyoumayregreteverleavingit.
Strategiestocopewiththestressofcultureshock
1.Learnsomeofthelocallanguagebeforeyouleavehome.You’vesignedacontractthatmeansyou’regoingtobelivinginyourhostcountryfor1-2years,learningthelanguagewillhelpyougetaroundandmakefriends.Somegreatwaystolearnthelocallanguagewhileyou’restillathome…
2.Taketimetogetusedtothenewtimezone,thedifferentweatherandsmells,soundsetc.
3.Beginbuildingfriendshipsassoonasyouarriveandmeettheothernewteachers.You’llformabondwiththeseteachersinthefirstyearespeciallybecausethey’llbecopingwithcultureshockaswell.Thiswillbeyoursupportgroup.
4.Stayintouchwithpeopleyou’veleftathome.InmymostrecentmoveIfoundthebestmedicineforthefrustrationphasewasanemailfrommyoldcolleaguestellingmehowunsatisfiedtheywereatmypreviousschool.
5.Cutyourselfsomeslack.Whenyourecognisethesymptomsofcultureshock,giveyourselfabreak,watchafavouritemovie,lookatpicturesfromhome,haveamealatyourfavouriterestaurant.Revelinthegreatthingsyou’reexperiencinginyournewhomesothatyoucanputyourfrustrationinperspective.
Overcomingcultureshock
Eachyear,millionsofpeoplegoabroadtowork,study,ortravel.It'sagreatwaytofindoutwhatlifeislikeinanotherpartoftheworld!
You'reprobablyhopingtomakenewfriendsandlearnaboutthecultureinyourhostcountry-everythingfromattitudesandbeliefstosocialcustomsandpopularfoods.Butconstantlyhavingtodealwithnewsituationscanbefrustrating,evenstressful.
Homesickness,stress,fear,andconfusionareallsymptomsof"cultureshock."Itisaresultofcarryingoutyoureverydaylifeinawaythatyouarenotusedto,aswellasbeingfarfromfamiliarplacesandfaces.Atfirst,youmayfeellikegettingontheplaneandheadinghome.It'sOKtohavethosefeelings,butwait,hanginthere!
Followingaresometipstohelpyouhandlethechallengesthatyouwillface...
Don'texpecttobeperfect.
Youmayfeelfrustratedthatyouhavecultureshock,especiallysinceyouprobablyspentsomuchtimepreparingforyourtrip.Nomatterhowmuchinformationyouread,orhowwellyouspeakthehostlanguage,itisnaturaltofeeloverwhelmedsometimes.Jetlagmayalsobeafactor-ifyouareexhaustedfromtravelaswellastryingtoadjusttoanewtimezone,youmaynotbereadytofaceanewenvironment.Ifyougiveyourselfsometime,thingswillgraduallygeteasier.
Haveanopenmind.
Whileit'scertainlyOKtofeelfrustrationorconfusioninyournewsurroundings,trynottoformanopinionaboutthenewculturetoosoon.Youmaybequicktojudgethefood,mannersandcommunicationstylesandasaresult,youmaywanttodothingsthewayyouareusedto.Ifyouhavethiskindofattitude,youwillprobablyavoidsomeoftheveryexperiencesthatyoucamefor.Yourexpectationsaswellascommonculturalstereotypeswilloftenbeinaccurate.Don'tthinkofthehostcultureasbetterorworse,justdifferent-you'llbemorewillingtotrynewthings.
Participate.
Thisisobvious,buteverybodyneedstobereminded.Justwatchinglifegoonaroundyouisn'tgoodenough-youreallyneedtotrythingsforyourself.Don'tworryaboutmakingamistake;peopleinyourhostcountrywillgenerallybeveryunderstandingandwillingtohelpifyouhavequestions.Ifyouareunsureofwhattodoinaformalsetting,followothers'lead.Activeparticipationinconversationisimportant,especiallyifyouwanttobecomefluentinthelocallanguage-youreffortswillbeappreciated!
Talkaboutit.
Don'tforgetabouttheorganizationsandpeoplethataretheretohelpyou.Forexchangestudents,yoursponsoringagencywillprobablyhavealocalvolunteerwhowillbecheckingonyou.Collegesanduniversitiesgenerallyhaveofficesthatconcentrateontheneedsofinternationalstudentsandtheirfamilies.Talktomembersofyourhostfamilyorfriendsthatyou'vemadethere.Allofthesepeoplewillbehappytohelp,andwillhavelotsofgoodadvicesincethey'veprobablyhadotherstudentswiththesameissuesinthepast.Butyoumustbewillingtodiscussyourconcernswiththem.Youwon'toffendanyone,sobehonest!
Here'showonestudentdealtwithbeingoverseas:
"WhenIfirstarrivedIbecamehomesick.ItoldmyhostfamilyhowIwasfeelingandmadesuretheyunderstoodthatitwasnothingtheyhaddone.Eva,theyoungestofmythreehostsistersturnedonKaseyKasem?
sAmerica?
sTop40weeklyradioprogram.Wespentanafternoontalkingandlisteningtofamiliarmusicfromhome.Itwassocomforting.Isoonrecoveredfrommyhomesickness,whichonlylastedacoupleofdays,andthoroughlyenjoyedmytimeoverthere."
Keepintouch.
Writelettersorcallyourfamilyregularly.Talkingtosomeonefamiliartoyoualwaysmakesyoufeelbetter,andtheycanencourageyouwhenyou'refeelinghomesick.Agoodideaistomakeplanstocalleveryweekonthesamedayandtime:
forexample,everySundayat7pm.Thatway,you'llneverbedisappointedthatnobodyishometoansweryourcall,andyou'llhavesomethingtolookforwardtoeachweek.Askyourfamilytosendphotosintheirletterstoyou,andtosendyouclippingsfromnewspapersormagazines.Postcardsareaneasywaytokeepyourfamilyinformedofyourtravels.Ifyou'regoingtobeabletouseemailwhileyou'reabroad,you'llbeabletokeepintouchwithlotsoffriendsandfamilyveryinexpensively!
Yourstudyabroadexperienceisauniqueandspecialtimeinyourlife,onethatyou'llneverforget.Ifyoufollowoursuggestions,you'llbeabletohandleitwell,andhaveawonderfultime.Goodluck!
!
Howtoovercomecultureshock
Afterarrivingatyournewuniversityorcollege,thefollowingsuggestionsmayassistyouinreducingthestrainofcultureshock:
Beawareofthesigns,includingthephysicalsymptoms.
Soonafterarriving,exploreyouimmediateenvironment.Havingtakenadviceonpersonalsafety,walkaroundandgettoknowyourneighbourhood.Createamentalmapofyoursurroundings.
Becourageousandintroduceyourselftoyouneighbours.Ifyouliveinuniversityaccommodation,thesearelikelytobeotherstudentswhofeeljustthewayyoudo.
Locateusefulplacessuchasthepostoffice,thedoctor’ssurgeryandtheuniversitywelfareofficesothatyouknowwheretheyarewhenyouneedthem.
Readalocalnewspaperandfindoutwhatthetopicalissuesare.Ifyouarewellinformed,youcanholdconversationswithBritishpeoplewithout