How to Survive Culture Shock

Nicky Branagh

Having taken a gap year back in 2005, I’m fortunate enough to have travelled fairly extensively. I’ve immersed myself in various cultures around the globe and come back all the better for it. Those months were undoubtedly the best of my life and have changed the way I look at the world today.

However, these experiences are not without their downsides. Anyone who has visited another country is probably familiar with the concept of culture shock. Whether you’ve spent a year teaching English as a foreign language in Honduras, or a week with the family in Cyprus you’ve probably experienced the symptoms of culture shock at some time or another. As a normal process of adjustment in a new environment, culture shock is not something to be ashamed of and the effects can be minimised with relative ease.

The first country my friend and I visited in our year out was the Republic of China, a country of vast cultural diversity. I think this proved beneficial because we then felt culturally prepared for the rest of our journey, having been introduced to an environment which required a lot of getting used to from the moment we stepped off the plane.

One factor which often causes the onset of culture shock when travelling to a new country is the language barrier which can sometimes be difficult to overcome, inducing a lack of confidence and a sense of displacement. For English speakers this barrier is slightly less prominent because most the English language is so widely spread and used, but it can still cause significant problems. Despite its common use, English is not spoken by everyone and is rarely spoken to a level that will allow you to live a “normal” life without learning the native tongue, as my friend and I soon discovered when searching for a licensed taxi to take us to our hotel. Had it not been for the hotel address scrawled down on a piece of paper in apparently very difficult to read Mandarin, we might have found ourselves completely stranded. As you might have guess, investing in a phrase book is essential if you’re not familiar with the native tongue of the country you’re travelling to. This will help you throughout your stay and ensure that you don’t feel vulnerable on occasions where communication is difficult.

Most foreign hotels and hostels will cater for these difficulties and on arrival at our hotel in Beijing we were given a card with a small map showing where it was and the address in Chinese symbols. This proved an essential part of each day as the initial discomfort of being in a strange setting was considerably lessened with the knowledge that we could continue our cultural experience without worrying about how we might be able to return to our hotel.

If you’re going to be travelling on your own but don’t like the prospect of being lonely you might want to consider a short stint at a volunteer project or take time out to go on an adventure travel tour. This is a great way to make friends with people of all nationalities and you could even find someone to spend the rest of your travels with. Such travel experiences often include a cultural orientation which will help accustom you to your surroundings. Some companies, including i-to-i, offer Year Out packages which deliberately place you with other travellers so that you can make friends with people with similar interests.

Once we arrived at our hotel in Beijing, my friend and I met up with a group of ten others that we were to travel with for fifteen days until we reached Shanghai. Only when we spent a further few days in China having left our group, did we truly notice the effects of culture shock setting in. We found ourselves irritable, homesick and powerless in a country where we had previously relied so heavily upon our tour guide to communicate for us, direct us and inform us of local customs so that we could avoid any cultural misunderstanding. Luckily the effects of cultural shock are temporary and we were soon back on form. To get us through those early days we planned extensively and kept to a routine which made us feel in control. It helped a lot to visit places regularly, for example we stopped at the same café most mornings before setting off on the days adventure and it was soon a familiar haunt that made us feel at home. 

When visiting an area of great cultural diversity it is important that you acquaint yourselves with local customs so as to avoid any offence. Information about dress codes is readily available on the internet and guide books will help you behave in an appropriate manner. In my experience, I found that any questions on polite custom in China could be answered by our tour guide and if you’re booking a volunteer placement or cultural tour with an establish organisation they will almost always offer a cultural orientation to get you accustomed to the customs of local people before you set off on your adventure. Even this low level understanding of Chinese culture allowed us to cope better in while we were away. For example, my friend was a red-head and gained much attention during our time in the country due to her vibrant hair colour. This is something that we couldn’t quite understand, but we slowly grew unconscious that this was an oddity in our old culture, particularly when friendly locals would approach us in order to ask politely if they could take a photograph.

A lot of the time, culture shock manifests itself in homesickness. Keeping in touch with friends and family while you’re away may help to reduce this feeling. Internet cafes and phone cards are widely available around the world and if you take a mobile phone away on your travels, it may be advisable to invest in a local sim card to cut down phone and text costs. You will inevitably discover that everyone back home is jealous of your travelling experiences, and would much rather be in your position!

My friend and I also took a few home comforts with us (including some tasty sweets that reminded us of home). You may find that when you walk into food stores in a new country, they’re nothing like you were expecting. On our first visit in Beijing we only recognised bread and bananas! However, with a little time and a lot of will power, we got used to it and eating out was soon a culinary treat.

Culture shock is common but easily battled and can prove to be beneficial in learning and acquiring new perspectives of the world. There are huge benefits to starting your travels with an organised project or tour which will make significant efforts to help you adjust to the new culture. If possible, learn a few phrases of the language and read up about the culture prior to your visit. This will lessen the surprise that many travellers encounter during their first days in-country. It is essential to be open-minded about different cultures and if you begin to feel lonely, remember you are not the only one to be going through these feelings. Take the opportunity to volunteer, join a tour group or befriend other individuals you encounter - this is particularly easy if you are staying in a hostel.

Exploring new cultures and immersing yourself in the customs and traditions of a foreign country is half of the appeal of travelling and yet this can be the very thing that destroys your break. With a little effort you can turn this around and make your cultural experience one to remember for the right reasons. So don’t let culture shock bring you down, make an effort, and take control.