Culture shock

Adaptation to a culturally different country can be difficult and students may experience some of the stages of culture shock. Culture shock is a psychological disorientation or confusion that occurs when entering an unknown cultural environment. Student can feel stress, tension, anxiety resulting from the separation from family and friends, feelings of helplessness and frustration especially at the beginning of your stay. The cause of culture shock may be: different mentality, distinct customs, different religious background, unusual weather (too much rain, snow), strange food, etc. [131, s. 87-101]

To alleviate culture shock students should focus on the pre-departure phase and gain as much knowledge about the new culture as possible. Stress can also be effectively reduced during the stay in the new culture by using previously acquired theoretical knowledge and put it into practice. Other useful tips: accept that it is normal to feel confused, be tolerant and opened to new cultures, join ESN Buddy System and be in contact with the locals, who understand and who will help the adaptation. This is one of the main objectives the online course "First Steps to FIM 'for foreign students. [131, s. 87-101]

Culture shock has 4 basic phases. However, everyone experiences them differently; some students experience the phases in different order or some of them not at all:

• Honeymoon phase: Student is fascinated by the new environment and embraces impulses from a new culture. It is the stage of discovering new customs and traditions.
• Crisis phase: Student begins to adapt to the new environment. However, the accumulation of negative experiences and the escalation of problems transforms into a state of irritation, anger and frustration. Student at this stage is characterized by a hostile or aggressive attitude against the host country.
• Recovery phase: Student gradually adopts the habits of a new culture and begins to understand the symbols, communication, which leads to a certain psychological balance.
• Adjustment phase: In this period the student accepts the host country and its customs and fully implements and obtains a complete overview of the culture of the host country and experiences joy. [97, s. 142-146]