Here is an article I recently wrote for the study abroad company I traveled through.
The First
Week : 5 Quick Ways to Combat Culture Shock
By Anna
Bechtel - Anna is a GlobaLinks Learning Abroad Alumni Ambassador who
completed an international internship in Wellington, New Zealand.
Unlike studying abroad at a university, an internship abroad
may jolt you out of your comfort zone a lot quicker than you will expect. For
most people, it is being taken out of two major environments at the same time, the
home country environment and the university environment. Being one of only two
interns at the time in New Zealand, I felt simultaneously grown up and very
much alone when I first arrived, not having that instant friend network built
into my life that comes from the university. This doesn’t mean those friend
networks aren’t there, it just means you have to search a little harder to find
them. Here are five quick tips to combat that first week culture shock abroad.
1)
Don’t
isolate yourself. As easy as it may
be to just sit in your room as you wait for things to get better, don’t do it.
It is critical to get out and interact. Meet new people. The bridging cultures
program is great for this, because you will at least have someone else who is
going through the same emotional rollercoaster that you are right there next to
you, but even after it ends it is important to be out in the community. I went
to the public library the couple days before starting my job, there was free
internet and an excellent view of the Wellington Harbor, but most importantly
there was people abundant and no pretense about fitting in or not.
2)
Establish
your familiars. If your mind is like mine, immediately after my orientation
ended I went into survival mode. But by locating the grocery store, post
office, phone store, and a couple coffee shops I was able to map out my new
home and feel more comfortable going out from one place to another, not feeling
like a tourist but more like I belonged. Comfort food is a big one for me, so a
coffee and kebab (almost like Chipotle… almost) really calmed me down.
3)
Explore! Once getting yourself calm, it’s time
to focus all that negative energy into positive by getting out and exploring.
Finding all the little nooks and cranies of Wellington city was such an
adventure and so easy on foot. It even got me excited about exploring more
places further away from my housing complex and I felt more and more confident
doing so on my own.
4)
Remember
to laugh. The first thing I
unpacked when I got to my room was a surge protector to charge my electronics.
Upon plugging it in, I immediately shorted out the circuit in my room and fried
my cord. The difference is voltage was something I completely forgot to look
at, and I just had to laugh and think about what a great story this would be to
tell when I get home. Don’t let the little stuff get you down, remember : This
is a learning experience J
5)
Plan
what’s next. You chose this program for a reason, remember? To get out and
try new things! So get online, ask
around, make your to do list and find all those new experiences you want to do.
Planning adventures makes the time fly.
As scary as it may be to be alone in a big city, never
forget that your family is only a call, text, or email away. Not everything
will go perfectly as you plan, but you will certainly have some great stories
for when you get back!
