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Coping with Culture Shock
Having a good understanding of what culture shock is as well as possible symptoms and strategies to cope with culture shock will ensure that your exchange is a positive and rewarding experience.
As outlined before culture shock refers to the stresses and strains that accumulate from being forced to meet one's everyday needs (e.g. language, climate, food, cleanliness, companionship) in unfamiliar ways. Some common symptoms of culture shock are:
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- Disorientation about how to work with and relate to others
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- Occasional physical discomfort
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When you leave home and all the things that are familiar, you encounter many new and confusing situations. These situations can create stress; the reaction to this stress is called "culture shock."
Some of the differences between life at home and life in a new place are obvious:
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- Absence of family and close ties
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Other differences are not as obvious:
- How students relate to teachers
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- How people make decisions
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- How people spend their leisure time
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- How people resolve conflicts
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- How people express feelings and emotions, meanings of hand, face and body movements
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These differences can cause feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. You may also feel that you don't know what to do in certain situations. At home you know what to do and what to expect, how other people act and think making life easy at home.
Your body and your mind may react in unusual ways to the stress and confusion of living in a new culture. Some of the reactions you experience may be:
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- Feeling isolated or alone
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- Sleeping too much or tiring easily
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- Finding it difficult to sleep
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- Suffering body pains, especially in the head, neck, back or stomach
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- Feeling angry towards local people
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These reactions are normal and temporary for people adjusting to life in a new environment. They can occur at any time during the life of a student. The trick with dealing with culture shock is firstly realising that it is normal. After you understand this you must then look at ways to successfully adjust to your new environment. This adjustment process actually starts before leaving Australia .
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