Moving to a new and foreign country is an exciting yet stressful time. Apart from all the logistics of moving belongings, finding a new place to live and worrying about the kids, people also find themselves facing a new culture.
Culture Shock is an emotional rollercoaster experienced by many expatriates. However, with a little planning and the building up of some basic cultural awareness, many expatriates can lessen the impact of culture shock.
Cultural awareness, i.e. understanding a country's people, laws, religion(s), customs and etiquette can help people adjust a lot easier to a new home abroad. Although daily life can still be unsettling at first, cultural awareness helps the foreign become less alien and most importantly less unexpected. Therefore, any preparation in the form of cultural awareness helps people adjust more quickly.
Below are some basic cultural awareness tips for expatriates planning to move to a foreign country:
* The easiest place to start is to get a good book that explains the local laws, customs, religion, society, etiquette and culture. There are now many websites that offer such information for free such as Kwintessential's Country Profiles.
* Join a forum on the internet used by expatriates. Ask for advice and what cultural awareness tips they have.
* Try and learn some of the language - if you can not dedicate time to language lessons then why not learn some simple phrases?
* Draw upon friends or acquaintances that may be nationals of the country you are moving to. Seek their advice and insight.
* Involve children as much as possible in building cultural awareness - give them small tasks that will slowly introduce them to their new homes.
* Once in the new country respect local customs and dress codes. As you are a guest in their country it is important not to behave in a manner that could offend people.
* Even if local customs and ways of doing things may be frustrating always remember that it does not make it wrong. People across the world simply do things differently.
* Pay attention to any religious observances especially in with less familiar religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. In some countries there are restrictions on what can be eaten or worn.
* Never take someone's photo without asking - in some culture's it could cause offense
* If you are ever unsure whether your behaviour is appropriate, simply observe what the locals do and follow their lead.
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