When moving to another country or a foreign land, you will know instantly that nothing around you is familiar. This will cause some disorientation and culture shock. It happens gradually and then progresses to depression and withdrawal if not adequately managed. Because we are familiar with the things around us. We know the streets and which sides of them to drive on or walk on. We know the type of food we eat and all the routines available to our consciousness. When we wake up in our room, we automatically know how to communicate with ourselves and the people closest to us.
We may not even pay much attention to the little things we do in detail, but we are accustomed to them. These habits or routines and the communications that come with them are cues we depend on to direct our behavior. Over time, they become our second nature, and that's why we can predict most times. But as we step into a new environment and country, we become familiar with new practices. We learn the language, the smells, the sounds, and the feel of our new location or neighborhood. After a while, we begin to leave the depression and withdrawal of being in a new place we are unfamiliar with.
Here is what happened to me when I left Nigeria for the Philippines. I had left home where everything was familiar to a country where I knew not the language, the culture, or the people. Sooner or later, I was able to get accustomed to the new way of life. I had new routines, which became the norm. I had a new identity through these new routines and practices as I immersed myself in the host country's customs. When I was in the Philippines, I understood when Craig Storti said, "The essence of home can be described in three key elements: familiar places, familiar people, and routines, and predictable patterns of interaction." I agree with Craig because these three elements associate the feelings of security, understanding, trust, safety, and belonging. Refreshingly, some of the signs to show that you will perfectly manage your culture shock will include the following:
Spending time in your new neighborhood: when you get to a new place, don't just sit in your apartment afraid that the world is against you. Get to know your community by finding all the local spots where you can buy groceries get your hair treated, cut or barbed, do your laundry and spend time with the locals.
Create a home away from home: when you get an apartment in a foreign land, it is best to put on your wall pictures of places that can make you remember home. It could also be pictures of your parents, siblings, colleagues, artifacts, or just anything that makes you feel comforted. If you love to cook too, you can make your kitchen a nice place.
There are more ways to go about the culture shock in a foreign country than what you read in this book. With this new wave of living in another country are some negative and positive experiences which I would love to expound on. I will do this mainly with the belief that you can prevail despite it all.
NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES
Most people have opinions about what qualifies as 'negative experiences when traveling to another country. Most of these negative experiences are financial disadvantages if you ask anyone who intends to travel. People always get scared when it's time to travel because of fear, 'I don't have enough money. They wonder about the cost of traveling, missing out on earning at home, finding a job while traveling, and fearing the unknown. Some of these are either because you will or are homesick or that you can't confront your fears. The internet is filled with thousands of worst traveling experiences.
John Widner (2015) wrote a review titled "Top 20 worst travel experiences" in (https://www.roamingaroundtheworld.com/top-20-worst-travel-experiences-year-review/) where he also noted some lessons from others' misfortunes just so that you and I can avoid a similar situation. Check it out! Permit me to share a few negative experiences that are popular amongst first-time travelers:
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The Established Aliens
Non-FictionMany other foreigners cry every day because of the difficulties they are facing. Perhaps they have not been able to meet opportunities that will educate their mind to know there is also a life good to live in a foreign land. The book "The Establishe...
