Culture Shift
Carry a healthy emotional passport
By Janice Abarbanel, PhD Mental Health/Study Abroad
Learn to culture shift
- You’ll be a more effective learner if you transition into another culture with healthy expectations & tools for change & adaptation.
- Practice noticing & regulating the intense emotions that are part of study abroad.
- Higher levels of stress accompany cultural transitions. Mood shifts diminish your logic.
- Learn to calm yourself down & manage your energy.
- Study abroad is a process, not an event.
- Welcome the whole journey, integrating pre-departure, in-country orientation & re-entry experiences.
Common Culture shock signals:
- Homesickness
- Irritability & hostility
- Boredom
- Withdrawal
- Need for sleep
- Compulsive eating or drinking
- Stereotyping of local people
- Loss of ability to work effectively
- Physical ailments
Effective Culture shift Strategies:
- Eat well, exercise, keep a mood journal
- Breathe! Slow down
- Build in quiet time
- Expect fatigue
- Practice saying “I don’t know.”
- Consult with mentor & peers
- Develop a support network
- Stay alert to the signals as signs of change
- Minimize catastrophic thinking; turn “What if’s” into “What else?”
- Believe in your own ability to solve problems
- Find difference interesting
- Recognize anxiety
Pay attention! Be prepared to get help if “signals” turn into persistent & worrisome behaviors.
Make the distinction between ADAPT and ADOPT.
You do not have to change, only try to understand.
Retain only that which feels comfortable to you and the understanding that things can be different.