Study, work or travel in the UK. British
culture and life.
Surviving culture shock when studying abroad
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Study, work or travel in the UK. British
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Surviving culture shock when studying abroad
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A big part of the reason for this change is an effect called "culture shock". You may experience this yourself if you go to live for a while in a foreign country. I asked a Japanese student called Mami about her own experiences. Mami spent 10 months in the UK last year, studying English at a language school.
If you travel abroad for study, you will probably feel good shortly after arriving. It feels like a holiday: everything is new and interesting, and you can easily ignore any small problems. Mami really enjoyed her first two weeks in the UK: "I had a job in Japan before I came. Now I didn't have to work any more and felt relaxed. It was a nice season (September) and everything was exciting".
But after a while you may experience a period of time when you feel a bit depressed. Why? Well, you start to miss things from your country which made you feel comfortable - perhaps your friends and family, or your favourite foods. Perhaps you find the course you are taking harder than you expected, are frustrated about your English ability, find it hard to make friends, or get annoyed about local people's behaviour.
Mami says: "After a few weeks I started to cry a lot. I felt I couldn't
always express what I wanted to say. I recognised that my English wasn't improving
fast enough and was wondering how I should study. I thought the weather was
dark and too changeable, and that affected my mood as well. At about this time
there were the events of September 11th - that made me feel more homesick, and
made me realise that I was far away from my family".
 A few days of grey skies made Mami depressed at first … |
Please don't despair if you feel low at this time. It is a common and natural
thing, and can happen anywhere. Things usually get better, although it may require
a lot of effort from you. What did Mami do which helped her to get over her
depression? "I spent a couple of weeks in the countryside (in Kent) - that
was the most exciting and wonderful time for me and helped me to relax again.
In my language school there were many Japanese - usually about 5 in my class
of 15 - and we always spoke in Japanese after our classes. So I agreed with
my Japanese friend that we would speak to each other in English. I decided to
take a Cambridge First Certificate exam course: that gave me a target to aim
for. Also, I went to a social club for British people who are interested in
Japan and started to make some friends there."
 Be patient and your dark mood should clear |
When you have learnt to adjust to local conditions you may also start to lose
some of your early negative thoughts. A few months after arriving Mami noticed
that she started offering advice to other people who joined her school after
her. Spring arrived and she started travelling more in the UK, and also made
trips to Belgium and Portugal. "I love the way you can easily go to Europe
and experience different cultures". She took a short course in calligraphy.
"It is a good idea to take an adult education course, which gives you an
opportunity to mix with local people".
 Blue skies return (Big Ben, Houses of Parliament) |
 Mami gets involved and has fun (tossing a pancake on Pancake Day) |
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Culture
Shock! Britain |
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Britain
(Culture Smart!) Author: Paul Norbury Publisher: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company Date: November 2003 |
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