Everyone who moves to a foreign country undergoes a number of different psychological adjustments and knowing something about them in advance can be of great help.
Here you will find a brief description of the different stages most people go through when adjusting to life in a new country.
Immediately after arriving in a foreign country the main sensation you have is euphoria, because you're entering a completely new culture. Everything is attractive and exciting, and you enjoy it because you are still confident about the correctness of your mental frame of reference. The obviously different behavior patterns of host nationals can be viewed as 'fascinating', 'quaint', or 'exotic'. In the Netherlands, for example, you enjoy riding your bike to your work or study place, you appreciate how organized everything is, you find yourself having dinner with people from three different countries, and everything gives you the feeling that a new exciting period of your life is about to begin.
After a few months, however, culture shock sets in. Culture shock is a type of mental and psychological stress resulting from overstimulation and overuse of the body's coping mechanisms due to the high degree of novelty in the environment. You may feel thoroughly confused because you no longer trust your mental frame of reference. Everything is different and difficult. A number of things become irritating: the strange unintelligible language with those awful 'g' sounds, the bland food, the new colleagues and with whom you have to be very polite. You can feel overwhelmed, shocked, stressed and frustrated because everything takes more time and effort.
The cultural differences are no longer exciting. You begin to feel homesick. In this stage you may feel depressed, anxious and even hostile. Some people experience lethargy and sleep a lot in order not to have to face everyday difficulties, while others experience insomnia.
But as time passes the last stage arrives and you progressively recover from culture shock. For the first time since arriving in this unfamiliar environment you notice a significant degree of consonance between your behavior and that of the native residents. Increasingly you begin to feel less overwhelmed and learn to manage the stress. You appreciate the varied and culturally enriching life in the new country. You start to be curious about more than just tourist activities and typical food; you want to know about the traditions and history of your host country; you may consider learning the language and participating in some kind of social or cultural activity. Finally, you regard yourself as reasonably well-adjusted to the environment.
So, take it easy and relax, the experience of living abroad is worthy enough to bear some setbacks. Keep in mind that after the culture shock, cultural enrichment will come.
