When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not Imagine being dropped into a foreign place where the language is incomprehensible, the people dress differently, the food burns your stomach, the temperature is 45°C in the shade, you have no friends, most people’s skin is of a different colour, they drive on the wrong side of the road, corruption is rampant, the water is always cold (when it’s running), and even the stars and the moon seem out of whack! This is the worst-case scenario! Sounds a bit disconcerting? Perhaps many of you and your families have already experienced this. Why don’t we talk about culture shock, so that it doesn’t get the better of you? What is culture shock? Culture shock is a syndrome that is brought on by the stress that results from the loss of all the familiar signs, symbols and surroundings that we have grown up with and taken for granted when we plunge into a totally unfamiliar environment. We go from air conditioning, nearby friends and family, a familiar language, civilized drivers, microwaves, 24-hour electricity, 20 varieties of bagels and coffee to something totally different. We are like a fish out of water. Culture shock is something that may be experienced by all travellers, though it is probably most significant in those who spend a longer time away from home. As well, it is a bit like jet lag or motion sickness in that not everyone suffers to the same extent or in the same way. Upon arrival in a foreign country, we usually experience a “honeymoon phase” for several weeks or even a few months. Everything is new and exciting. The local people are polite and gracious, and anxious to help out. It’s not unlike the first few days at summer camp or university. This may be followed by stage 2, the “What am I doing here?” stage. This can be characterized by a hostile and aggressive attitude towards the host country and its people. This hostility grows out of the genuine difficulty that you may experience in the process of adjustment. In spite of one’s good intentions, feelings of frustration, irritability and anxiety may occur. Changes in mood, sleep patterns, energy level, sex drive and appetite may also be noticeable. Your sense of humour, one of your most valuable assets, may disappear. You may feel guilty about these negative feelings, but they have real causes, for example, problems with the phones, no fresh fruit available, cobras on your porch, you’re suffering from diarrhea, you’ve been robbed, your job is not quite what you expected, you can’t get the hang of the language...and to top it off the local people seem indifferent to these problems. Your interpretation? They’re being insensitive and unsympathetic to your problems, so you decide, “I just don’t like them.” Ready to exacerbate this alienation is the fact that expatriates often tend to congregate together in their own little “cocoon.” While this may provide a sense of security and a convenient forum for complaining, it doesn’t help much with integration into the local way of life. (Let me add, however, that there is nothing wrong with having a sense of security and enjoying your friends.) Finally comes stage three, typically after about six months, when you accept the customs and other quirks of the host country as just another way of living. At this point, one not only understands and accepts all of the cues of social intercourse - the food, drink, habits and customs - you actually enjoy them. Your sense of humour resurfaces. Adaptation to your new job may help. In someone taking a much briefer trip, the same stages probably occur, but much more quickly and superficially. Imagine a one-week trip to Mexico. The first day or two are filled with anticipation and new experiences. Midweek may be plagued with water shortages, a bit of diarrhea and other frustrations. But by the time you’re ready to board your plane back home, you wish you could stay for another week. What can we do about it? It is important to be aware of the existence of culture shock and other mental health problems, and to recognize that these are natural processes through which many people go. There are several ways in which you can make your adjustment to life overseas a bit easier:
E-mail has made communication with family and friends back home quite easy. But I have seen travellers spend most of their days glued to a computer at the local Internet café. Here the danger is that by staying too connected with events and people back home you may limit your incentive to get involved with events happening locally, and hence prolong your culture shock. So take advantage of e-mail, but use it in moderation. It is important that you learn as much as you can about the country and its culture before you leave home. They say that 10 per cent of your job success will depend upon your particular skill, and the other 90 per cent upon how well you communicate with others. It is difficult to communicate with those whose customs, traditions and ways of operating you do not understand. This underscores the need for at least some basic language training, prior to your departure, as well as early on at your destination. What if I have problems? Depression is a common occurrence, no matter on which side of whatever ocean you may find yourself. It is one of the most common reasons for expatriates to return home prematurely. The symptoms of depression may include mood swings, crying spells, irritability, fatigue, lack of appetite, loss of motivation or get-up-and-go, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and thoughts of death or suicide. If you feel yourself falling into this pattern, it is essential that you get help. Substance abuse, particularly alcohol, is sometimes a problem for those working abroad. Whether it is the hot weather, the cheap beer, the local custom or peer pressure, it may end up affecting your job and relationships while abroad. As well, it will undoubtedly lower your inhibitions, which in turn may lead to the dangers of unsafe sex and unsafe driving. Once again, if this appears to becoming a problem, seek help. If you have had emotional or substance abuse problems in the past, be sure that you find out what support services, if any, are available at your destination. How about returning home? For some, the re-entry adjustment upon returning home may be even more difficult than the move abroad. You have just had to return from a place and people that you had grown to love. The new values that you may have acquired abroad seem a bit out of place back home. People would love to hear your stories and see your slides, but they don’t have time (an estimate from a recent returnee is that, aside from family, most acquaintances will listen to your stories for up to five minutes and then begin to talk about themselves). Then there’s all that snow, you’re not sure what the future holds and, finally, you may have to get used to your mother’s cooking again! So what can you do? In fact, it’s much the same as when you arrived in Mongolia, Malawi or wherever you went. Be aware that re-entry shock can occur. Reestablish your social life. Get involved with work. Keep in touch with your friends overseas. Offer to give a talk or slide show about your experience to anyone willing to listen. Look after your mental and physical health. But don’t worry about that for now. Remember, culture shock is as natural as that first bout of diarrhea. Anticipate it. Understand it. And it will get better. Factors Important to Successful Intercultural Adjustments 1| Open Mindedness: The ability to keep one’s opinions flexible and receptive to new stimuli seems to be important to intercultural adjustment. 2| Sense of Humour: A sense of humour is important because in another culture there are many things which lead one to weep, get angry, be annoyed, embarrassed, or discouraged. The ability to laugh off things will help guard against despair. As I was recently told by a volunteer in Kenya, “If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.” 3| Ability to Cope with Failure: The ability to tolerate failure is critical because everyone fails at something overseas. People who go overseas are often those who have been the most successful in their home environments and have rarely experienced failure, thus may have never developed ways of coping with failure. 4| Communicativeness: The ability and willingness to communicate one’s feelings and thoughts to others, verbally or non-verbally, has been suggested as an important skill for successful intercultural communicators. 5| Flexibility and Adaptability: The ability to respond to or tolerate the ambiguity of new situations is very important to intercultural success. Keeping options open and judgmental behaviour to a minimum describes an adaptable or flexible person. 6| Curiosity: Curiosity is the demonstrated desire to know about other people, places, ideas, etc. This skill or personality trait is important for intercultural travellers because they need to learn many things in order to adapt to their new environment. 7| Positive and Realistic Expectations: It has been frequently shown that there are strong correlations between positive expectations for an intercultural experience and successful adjustment overseas. 8| Tolerance for Differences and Ambiguities: A sympathetic understanding of beliefs or practices differing from one’s own is important to successful intercultural adjustment. 9| Positive Regard for Others: The ability to express warmth, empathy, respect and positive regard for other people has been suggested as an important component of effective intercultural relations. 10| A Strong Sense of Self: A clear, secure feeling about oneself results in individuals who are neither weak nor overbearing in their relations with others. People with a strong sense of themselves stand up for what they believe, but do not cling to those beliefs regardless of new information, perspectives, or understandings which they may encounter.
Mark Wise is a Family Doctor in Thornhill, Ontario. He is the Medical Advisor to Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), a Canadian non-government organization sending volunteers to lesser-developed countries. He runs The Travel Clinic, and is the author of Malaria, Montezuma and Me - A Medical Guide for Travellers, from which this is excerpted. For a copy of the book, please contact him at markwise@home.com. |
