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Culture Shock Down Under
Move Forward
As an immigrant, it is inevitable that some worry and anxiety would overwhelm you as you start your life in Australia. No matter how much information you have read or learned about life in Australia, some measure of stress would come as you start living your life in the country.
One of the first things you would feel when living amongst the locals in Australia is the feeling of homesickness or longing for the company of relatives and friends. This may result in some measure of frustration or anxiousness while living amongst Poms and Aussies. You may be the only brown skinned individual living in a relatively all white community. At times you may not feel your head is between your shoulders while navigating life in your new surroundings, there being an inability to discern what is proper or improper behavior. This may even be exacerbated by the holidays where many celebrate with their own relatives and friends, which intensifies the feeling of loneliness leading to sadness or even melancholy.
The following are the common symptoms of culture shock in the country:
1.Moodiness and irritability, with a feeling of not wanting to communicate or interact with others;
2.Romanticization of good experiences of the home country;
3.Insomnia or difficulty in sleeping;
4.Loss of sense of self or identity;
5.Loss of confidence or even inability to solve simple issues and problems;
6.Feeling of incompetence and lack of faith in one's abilities;
7.Creation of stereotypes amongst experiences in the new country;
8.Feeling of repression, invisibility or even exploitation;
These are but normal emotions that one can feel when immigrating to another country. There have been known stages to this kind emotional roller coaster and knowing the following steps to manage these emotions can help in overcoming this phase of your life in the new country.
a.The Honeymoon Phase. This particular phase often is a comparative study of the differences between the home country and the new country of residence. Everything is exciting and new, thus the enthusiasm as to experiencing all that the country offers often leaves the individual exhilarated.
b.The Awful Phase. In going through the honeymoon phase, the differences between the old and the new countries add up leading to some form of difficulties in integrating the new culture into the old life. This may be in the form of language difficulties, cultural differences and even racial tension can creep and ruin the emotional well being of the individual.
c.The All-OK Phase. After the first two stages, this would essentially be the part when one integrates and acclimatizes into the new surroundings. These include acceptance of the new and having daily routines to have a better outlook as to the life Down Under.
Bobby Castro is the online editor at the Australia Forum, where he has published a number of articles about Australian news for immigrants and many other topics.
Article submitted Wednesday, January 04, 2012 & read 3 times.
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