The 4 main phases of culture shock

You are planning your new life in a country where you imagine that everything works almost perfectly, and is far superior, in every way, to your home country.

When you have visited, you have not seen robberies, everything is clean, and people seem happier. Your expectations are high, but once you are there, you realize that you were not right… Everything is even better.

But there comes a time when suddenly everything turns gray: people are not so nice, there is dirt, and suddenly you miss the food that your grandparents cooked for you. the feelings of loneliness they increase more and more, everything seems strange, and you think you're out of place...

Now, your home country doesn't seem so bad anymore. What's more, you would give anything to go back in time and never have left it.

I want to tell you that this is all completely normal. There are certain patterns that tend to repeat themselves in a large number of cases when a person emigrates. This is what has been called "culture shock" by experts.

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What is culture shock?

Culture shock refers to adaptation process experienced by an individual after moving from living in a familiar cultural environment to another where things are different.

In general, you can associate more when you move to countries with big cultural differences (for example, if you go from Colombia to Japan, or from Spain to Saudi Arabia) but it can also be applied in cases where the differences are not that many. Of course, aspects such as language or certain common cultural roots must be taken into account.

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The phases of culture shock

Either way, There are four phases in the culture shock process. that are used as a guide to understand this process.

Phase 1: Honeymoon

At the beginning it is normal that one feels incredibly motivated. Emigrating means new opportunities, meeting new people and greater personal growth. When we first start, everything new seems exciting.

Of course, not everyone experiences this phase, since on many occasions, one must move to a place where they do not want to only for work reasons, or to accompany their partner or a family member. Not to mention in the case of children or teenagers who have to go to a different country leaving behind their friends and their school.

In any case, the honeymoon has been pointed out as a very normal stage that occurs during the first weeks or months after arriving at the new place. One aspect that causes problems is that many people may think that by changing the environment, perhaps many problems that they had in their home or native country will disappear, which can generate some discomfort when seeing that there are no solutions magical. Although changing the environment can serve to help make a “clean slate”, it is not enough.

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Phase 2: Frustration

If during the first time everything seemed wonderful, It's not uncommon for things to not seem so great afterwards, and you go to the other extreme.: now the customs of the new country are annoying, people do not know how to drive, there is nothing interesting to do, and everything at home was better.

Of course, after the honeymoon, when the excitement subsides a bit, it is also normal that we start to value more what we had at home, to miss our friends, our work, the family and the pizzeria of the neighborhood.

A key aspect of this phase is the feeling of loneliness and lack of belonging: not only is one away from his friends and family, but not so many people who play a role of closeness and affection are known. The negative feelings associated with this phase, in turn, can cause one to enter a vicious circle where one feels bad for being alone, and because of this, one does not want to leave the house and do activities to get to know people.

This is all very common, but usually this phase can be overcome. On many occasions, time helps, but being proactive makes it even more so.: have initiatives to meet people, take living in another country as an opportunity to travel, do activities or try other foods, for example.

Surely, the new country was not as wonderful as you thought at first, nor is it as bad as you see it now. The attitude with which you face this situation will be key for this phase to last more or less time.

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Phase 3: Adaptation

After making new friends and acquaintances, and after generating a new routine (surely incorporating habits of the new culture) we can say that the adaptation phase has been entered, where one begins to shape what his new life will be, Y can assess in a more objective way the positive and negative aspects of this new country. At the same time, personal growth can also be appreciated, in relation to the challenge that emigrating has meant (where one leaves their comfort zone in search of something different).

The state of mind improves remarkably and one can integrate better into his new home: improving his ways of interact with the locals, perfecting the language and knowing more and more how to function, in every way, in this new country.

Phase 4: Acceptance

Finally, the new life is accepted, recognizing that feeling homesick is something inevitable, but one that can be lived with. Fortunately, today's technology allows one to keep in touch with their loved ones at a very low economic cost and even being able to see their faces if you make a video call, so it never hurts to take time a week to give a call to family or friends, and even plan a trip to the country of origin, as often and desired as possible to serve as motivation to continue go ahead.

It is at this moment that the person can feel as part of the new culture, and incorporate it into their own identity, without neglecting their previous life.

This process is not always linear, and some stages can be more or less lasting depending on the person. In some cases, as previously mentioned, perhaps some phase does not manifest itself, it does not do so very noticeably. But, nevertheless, the important thing is to understand that emigrating can have its challenges, from the psychological angle, but this is not, at all, something strange or something that cannot be faced.