It is a fact that different continents, countries and even towns have different cultures or their natural way of doing things, and as one shifts from one country to another, one is often bond to encounter a culture shock. Let me borrow from my own personal experience, I was born and raised in Kenya and spent virtually all my life in the city of Nairobi, before going to England for my further studies. When I first arrived in England, it was shocking completely meeting different people from all comers of the world, the foods were all different-a cup of tea that I bought for 10 pence was now about 10 times the cost. I would not understand the accents-especially given the fact that most people had different accents, people seemed to be very busy. In this present times where people are migrating and emigrating from one country to another at unabated level, culture shock to many would be a household name.

Some of the common signs of culture shock are - one becomes confused as to what is right and wrong, what is accepted and what is not, one loses the sense of direction, one gets frustrated. Different people react directly to changes in culture and others take a very short time to adjust while others may take a longer time. Some cultures are also very similar and it would not be hard to adjust while others would pose a greater challenge.

There are people that enjoy experiencing other different cultures and would react positively viewing it as an opportunity to learn other new cultures, while others would react negatively, it is often evident that majority of people do not like change. When faced with cultural difference, some people would often become lonely-especially when people do not understand your language. It also generally takes time and a lot of effort to learn a new language, this make one sad, depressed and have changes in their body temperature and sleeping patterns-with some sleeping for longer hours than usual, and others sleeping for less hours than usual. This when people would start to realize how wonderful their home countries are, and would start feeling Home sick, you often hear people frequently talking or referring to their homes.

All this if not properly managed would compromise one’s health. All said and done one must put some effort to understand and adjust to the new culture when one has to move from one area to another, one must try mitigating the negative effects of culture shock by doing something constructive.   

Different people react differently to culture shock but generally, there are stages of culture shock that research and observation has found common to most people. These stages would manifest themselves at different times.

The first stage is called Honeymoon phase and as the name suggest it is when people will be having a good time experiencing the new culture and embrace the new environment with open arms-one would love the cuisines, the new scenes and people’s way of doing things. Everything just appears exciting.   

In the second stage, once the harmony is over and realities starts to take centre stage and after a while one starts to make comparison with his home culture and as it often said “east or west home is best”. This when you start to experience language barriers, even when you speak the same language minor difference will always be there and this where your patience starts to run out and you start getting annoyed, sad and uncomfortable.

With the passage of time, one would slowly start to get familiar with the new culture and accept it. Here you would have a better understanding of the new culture, and get into the routines of the new culture. At this stage, you would take the new culture as normal and your focus shifts from the concerns of culture change to the basics of life, just as you would in your home country.

The question that begs an answer is -how does one cope with the culture shock? and as it is the norm with solving any problem in life, the first and foremost things is to get as much information and facts about the culture as possible, you can read or talk to people that are familiar with the culture, try and be flexible and embrace change but don’t try to copy others just be yourself. If you are away from your family members, keep contact with them. Do exercise even if simple exercise, do not rush things, have patience, ensure that you have adequate sleep.

If you have migrated to another country for economic reason- have confidence and focus and do not be overambitious, be realistic in your goals.

It is important that one make an effort to adjust by reading books, getting information from the internet. If you are a student in a foreign country then you can seek for information from your learning institution. You can seek for counseling- join students groups. The most important things is to recognize that it may take time to adjust and you must make an effort you don’t want to go into a foreign country and ten years down the line you still don’t understand the language.