How To Adjust To A New Culture While Studying Abroad?

Moving to a new country, no matter how exciting and welcoming, is a daunting experience. Especially when you have never visited the country before. The nervousness of getting into an institute, learning new things, adjusting to your living space and much more makes the whole exposure extremely hectic. You would need to first know what exactly will you be facing.

• Extreme homesickness
• Nervousness and Anxiety
• Lack of Knowledge of whereabouts
• Regular inconveniences because of your lack of knowledge
• Dilemma over the behaviour of people
• Irritation over minute inconveniences

Although you will be facing all this and more, there is nothing to worry about if you relax and acknowledge that it is completely natural to be in such a scenario when your life is taking an extremely huge turn.

Now without further ado, let’s get started to actually learn how to adjust to a new Culture while Studying Abroad:

Stay Patient with the Process

Personally, having been through the situation, I must add that the most important thing is not losing yourself in the process, tensing yourself too much on adjusting and getting comfortable will not make the process easier.

Rather, the best and first tip here would be to allow yourself to enjoy every moment of the process, instead of compiling the burden of fitting in and making friends, just take in each moment to quietly understand how things work best in your favour.

Interact with People

People are your medium to culture, they are the best source as they speak from personal routines. Making friends, and being open to failure in friendships is a grand process of interacting with people from a different culture.

It is important to note that people will also be your greatest help in everyday life, be it finding locations, routes or transports to understanding systems, routines and even menus.

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You must keep in mind that people of different cultures behave differently, some countries have notably kind and compassionate people whereas other countries are known to have bluntly straightforward and not-so-welcoming citizens.

For Example, a study conducted in 2012 by Forbes concluded the World’s Rudest Nations for travellers, indicating France to be on the top followed by Russia.

Studying abroad one feels triggered by every little inconvenience, especially by the way people treat them, hence the purpose of noting the study down is to let you know that the behaviour differs from nation to nation and is nothing personal against you.

Observe More, Give-Out Less

Taking the process of making friends and associating in this regard, one needs to acknowledge that giving more information and details means becoming vulnerable to a space you have no idea of and to people you are unfamiliar with. It is best to guard your heart at this point and not get too attached to things no matter how promising they may seem.

Observing is the best skill that can get you far into adjusting, it will protect you from getting hurt and confused in your daily matters. It also follows up with letting you consume enough information for you to finally understand everything and until that refrain from giving out too much of yourself.

Learn about the Place and Culture

Explore the place, its heritage and its locations. Oftentimes, the historical heritage speaks life into why the place is the way it is or why the culture stands as it does today.

It is important to learn the evolution in order to learn the current. Hence, make sure you take out time each weekend or so, to go around and enjoy the place, especially the cultural side of it.

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Food plays a very important role in building up culture, the more comfortable you get around food, the more adjusting you can do to the culture.

The research was done in 2016 by Vatika Sibal on Food: Identity Of Culture And Religion communicates that “The meaning of food is an exploration of culture through food. What we consume, how we acquire it, who prepares it, who’s at the table, and who eats first is a form of communication, that is, it has a rich cultural base. Beyond merely nourishing the body, what we eat and with whom we eat can inspire and strengthen the bonds between individuals, communities, and even countries”

Seek Support and Relatability

No matter how hesitant and shy one is, seeking support and help is the main ingredient of adjusting to a new culture. You can not do it on your own, and humans are designed for interdependence. Wherever you get stuck, move back to point number 2 where you socialise with people and make friends, now it’s time to take out the benefit of your skill.

Find other international students or panels made for the communication of students abroad, such as social media pages, international student organisations, and University communities made for foreign students help. Finding such panels will not only allow you to communicate your concerns but also consume content that you can relate to and gain help from.

Allow Mistakes

Conclusively, even though you are set to do everything right, you are going to make mistakes (learn how to avoid those mistakes) because no matter how prepared you are, whatever you face will be for the first time and new is not easy. So, give yourself and others permission to make mistakes, they can always be reconciled and you can always give a second try to things.

Get out of the ‘how things should be’ or the mindset of the culture you grew up in, because the only thing that will get you across in this unstable boat is patience and open-mindedness. Instead of keeping your focus on fitting in, keep the focus on doing your best, be it in academics or in everyday life of keeping yourself happy and healthy.