Dealing With Culture Shock for You and Your Family
Anytime that you move to a new area, there can be a little bit of an adjustment to the way of life in your new area. This is amplified even more so when you’re moving overseas. When you are in a location that you have never been before, you may experience a little bit of culture shock. While it is a normal thing, there are steps that you and your family can take to help you get over culture shock quickly.
The first step to getting over any problem, is understanding the problem to begin with. Culture shock is a form of anxiety that people get when they are in an environment that they have never been before. It can be very overwhelming at first and there are symptoms that can arise from it. You may experience loneliness, fatigue, irritability, and actual physical pain from culture shock that can totally consume your entire day. While anxiety, or stress, can come up out of nowhere, you can take measures to alleviate yourself from it.
The first thing to remember if you are moving overseas with your family is that you are not alone. Your whole family will be going through it with you, which makes it easier if you allow it to be. Communicate your feelings to your family, and listen to them when they communicate with you. Often talking things out is a great way to relieve a lot of stress. You could also try to communicate with your friends and family back home. Even though they are not there with you, they should be sympathetic to your plight. Once you get all of your concerns off of your chest, you might find instant relief. If not, they can help talk you through it.
How to Help Your Children
Your school aged children might have a little tougher time than you with the whole situation. What you have to remember is that school and friends is basically their entire world, and you have taken them from that. Now they will make new friends, and attend a new school, but that does not mean that they will not feel a great deal of loneliness from leaving their old friends behind. Encourage your children to not only meet new friends, but to keep in touch with their friends back home over the internet. If it is financially viable, have your children go back home to visit, or bring their best friends out to visit you. This will go a long way toward curing your child of any loneliness they feel.
You can also find out if there are any other transplants in the area that moved there from your home country. They might also have families and it will be more people that you can share your experiences with. Your children might find it easier to make friends with children that have gone through the same experiences as them, and have the similar backgrounds and values. Always remember, that no matter what age you are, it is easier to face problems with people that you know and love, than trying to get through it by yourself.
