Coping With A New Culture: Problems And Solutions
Coping with a new culture has never been the easiest job of one's life, for, not only that you miss your friends and family in the new place, you also miss your very own culture. And culture, as the social anthropologists say, is exactly what we do in our life. Going by this definition, you tend to miss everything, everything that you have done since the time you have taken birth, everything that you are used to ? foods, customs, attitudes, languages ? every little thing. The problem multiplies if the new culture belongs to a different linguistic group than yours and if your knowledge in that language is not good enough for an efficient communication. Miscommunications and misunderstandings follow and if you are not of the outgoing type, like those shy ones who find it difficult to make quick friends in a new environment, the problem can even lead to depression. If you have never been to a new culture, imagine yourself in an environment where you don't speak the language, nor understand its customs and culture and vice versa and then making things worse, don't even have somebody in front to share your feelings. As a matter of fact, our mind and body take time to adapt to new things and if life needs to move faster, depression is often the next thing to follow. We have wonderful ways to fight these kinds of situations today. Internet is playing a vital role (and often the only source) to find and meet new people ? and even one can meet people of their own culture and country, if a proper search is made. We can find out information about clubs and organisations of our own country and most of them will welcome you gladly in their organisation. Another place to search for is the website of your embassy. If you do not have the web address of your embassy, go to yahoo or google and search for 'your nationality'+'embassy'+'new city'. Say a search like American embassy Paris will do the job. Most embassy websites have a list of organisations of their country present in the concerned foreign land. Some websites, like www.kigoobe.com/meetup: English speaking Paris, is not only offering the expats the opportunity to meet and discuss with others through forums and chat, but also various english television channels and other stuffs, everything someone tends to miss in the new culture - attempting a total solution to make your stay a pleasing one in your foreign land. Besides meeting with others from your own culture, there are some other things as well that one could observe to cope with this kind of culture shock. ? Learn their language as fast possible: An understanding with someone is only possible where there is a communication, and learning the language is essential for an effective communication. Learning their language is important as it also helps us to understand them and them to understand us ? which inturn helps a better integration and helps increase the chance of making good friends ? Try to understand their culture: Trying to understand their culture is another big challenge, specially understanding the differences. Since every culture is different, it's quite common to misjudge others and take others as inferior (or superior, for instance) and develop complexity inside one's self. This is something one need to handle specially, try to understand others culture, and respect the differences, and to think a difference doesn't necessarily mean that one is inferior and the other one is superior. ? Be careful when you speak: Since the cultures are different, it happens often, that an expression that is good in your culture may be taken absolutely bad in others and vice versa. This is worse when you start speaking their language, as then, the other person thinks that since you can speak and understand their language, you must be able to understand their culture as well, and if you do a mistake, that is often taken as intentional. ? Don't irritate them because of anything: You may have trememdous esteem for your own culture, and the other one may be different than yours, but don't start ridiculing them or put them down by showing how your's is better than their's. Don't speak only about your culture all the time as well, even if you miss your culture a lot. That can be irritating for the person in front. ? Get involved: Get involved with them. Integrating and getting involved in activities of the other culture is the best way to shed off the 'we are different' mask. And once this mask is no more there, if you become like one of them, or say, they become like people of your own culture, culture shocks can much easily be removed. Fortunately though, not all expats feel alike. For a lot, a change in cultural atmosphere is exciting, challenging, and a way to meet and understand new people and culture. A proper 'how to' for winning over culture shocks can make everybody enjoy a greater experience in the new culture, thereby making their stay more positive and rewarding in the host country. One last tip: Meet others, look for like minded people, make friendship. Note: The term 'Culture Shock' was coined in the year 1954 by one Kalvero Oberg to describe the negative effect in one's body and mind during the period of cultural adjustment in a different socio-cultural environment. The author, Sourav Choudhury is a Master of Science in Biological Anthropology and by profession, a web designer and owner of kigoobe.com, a Paris based web designing firm. Everybody is welcome to add this article to their site, we just request you to let us know about that and put a link towards our website Création site internet.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Your Next Relationship - Heaven or Hell?
We've all had relationships that we've looked back on and thought, "What was I thinking?'' Problem is, you weren't thinking. You based your decision strictly on chemistry and first impressions, and in the words of Elvis Presley, "That's when your heartaches begin.
Holiday Fun for Singles
Are you dreading the holidays because you are single? For those who are alone, this can be a difficult season -- especially if you know what it is like to be in a relationship during this time of year. This can, however, be your best time of the year if you follow this plan:1.
The Three Levels of Soul Mates
From my own personal experience of being involved in certain relationships, I have come to realize there are three different levels of Soul Mates. We discussed Soul Mates in a previous article of mine, 'Soul Mates - Do they really exists" now we should keep our eyes open and pay closer attention to our relationships, in order that we might recognize those soul mates.
Never Ever Show Youre Jealous
O.k.
The Counsel of Caution
Caution is a word with a fine old-fashioned ring. The dictionary definition I have in front of me reads: "attention to safety, prudence, carefulness".
The 7 Stages of a Romantic Relationship
There are seven stages in a romantic relationship: avoidance, meeting, dating, breaking up, establishing exclusivity, commitment, and keeping the love you find. Each of these stages vary in length and intensity.
Great Relationship Advice: How to Get "All A's" in Couples Communication
Mark Twain once said that he believed it was "God's great cosmic joke on humanity when He required men and women to live together in marriage."When it comes to couples trying to communicate with each other, I believe old Mr.
How to Increase Romance with Humor
Ask any single adult what qualities he or she wants in a spouse or partner, and one of the first answers is always "a sense of humor." Yet relationships and most marriages easily lose the early excitement after living together for several years.
Great Relationships: How to Solve Problems and Have Fun Too
I recently came across this quote:"There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to notice and small enough to solve."When problems come in our relationships they can bring a great deal of stress into our lives.
Love Advice: Let Fate Decide?
One of the most commonly asked questions, What is Love? What is its exact definition? Well, there can never be a definite answer. Everyone got his or her own answer to it.
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places? - How to fine tune your relationship radar
I don't think a week goes by that I don't get a letter or e-mail from someone asking for help in making better choices in relationships.It usually goes something like this: "I keep picking jerks to date! I try to pick different types of people _ they might even look completely different from the last person I dated _ but they end up acting the same and treating me the same.
Are all Men Unfaithful?
"Men are all the same. Stop looking for Prince Charming, Dreamer!""We just can't commit to one person! I Loooove Women!""I can't help it! Women want me!""I almost went with this co-worker of mine years ago, and I feel some kind of regret today that I haven't done it?""Caroline, I have an active sex life with my girlfriend.
Pros and Cons of Online Relationships
Modern technology hasn't solved any of the problems of creating and preserving a good relationship. Computers and the internet have merely added a new wrinkle in old pattern of love and loss.
Girl Talk - Boy Talk
Chas and Dave wrote a song about it and how right they were. Women just love to rabbit! Whether you calling it chatting, nattering, gassing or just plain talking, we're way ahead of the opposition in the vocal stakes.
The Sting
Direct Answers - Column for the week of June 28, 2004Two days ago, purely by accident, I found out my husband was a member of an online sex and swinger service. I unintentionally opened his e-mail, thinking the computer was logged on to my name, not his.
Engaged, In Love, and In Limbo
Well, here I am very much in love and starting to plan my August wedding, when Murphy's Law sets in.I remember it as a full moon night.
Charisma, Love and Health
This is an amazing story. It's about my friend Robert.
Relationship Advice - 10 Ways to Put Sizzle Back in Your Relationship
It seems that no matter how much we love someone, and how deeply we are committed, keeping the sizzle alive in a relationship takes a little work. Here are ten ways you can help ignite the flame that was there when you first got together.
Prison Wife: Stand By Your Man
There are approximately 2 million men in the prison system in the United States. That means there are a lot of loved ones left behind to wait.
Relationships That Really Last: Is This the Secret?
In my e-book, How to Build Relationships That Stick, I told over a story I once heard in the name of a famous relationships counselor who talks on radio shows. It was claimed to be an authentic account of something that happened in real life, but even if it's apocryphal, I'm very much inclined to believe it could happen.
|
