Culture Shock Feeling

Culture Shock Feeling

Culture shock is the feeling one gets when he leaves a familiar environment and moves to a new unfamiliar place. The feeling can be confusing to the individual.  This happens when one moves from a culture he is familiar with and goes to a very new different culture he is not used to. A person may feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable trying to fit into the new environment and its culture. The difference in interaction with new people makes it difficult for one to fit in easily and requires time to adapt one’s behavior to the established norms of the new environment. This feeling has numerous symptoms ranging from irritability, headaches, tiredness, loneliness, and homesickness among other negative ones.

I had experienced culture shock twice in my life. The first one was when my family moved to a new town, where we met new people of different cultures. I also experienced the feeling when I joined the high school, where I met students from different cultures, and it took a while for me to fit into their ways of doing things. It was difficult dealing with the mixed feelings of loneliness and confusion, but I learnt that the best way to overcome those feelings was to reexamine my own values and attitudestoward other cultures. This way I learn to adjust and appreciate the new environment. The other way of dealing with culture shockis to have a setscheduleof activities, especially of eating and sleeping time. It helps a lot to minimize symptoms like tiredness and headaches. Having fun  is another effective way to adjust to a new culture, rather than locking oneself away from other people.