文化冲击.docx

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