Living and working abroad is, without doubt an exciting, unique and rewarding experience. You’ll amass an enormous array of transferable skills, from adaptability and flexibility to cross-cultural understanding, not to mention the opportunity to gain proficiency in a foreign language.
Having lived and worked in China for several years, I was delighted to reflect on these accomplishments towards the tail-end of my international working experience, and take stock of my new skills upon returning to my home country. It is harder, however, to see the wood for the trees when you are in the thick of your international working experience, not least because of the overwhelming effect of culture shock.
Here is a brief guide, based on my own experience (and mistakes), to the stages of culture shock that many will experience and how best to tackle each one.
This isn’t an exact science and everyone’s experience is different, but many can expect these kinds of experiences living and working abroad…
Ah, the Honeymoon stage! I.e the first few months of your time abroad, where everything is new and exciting. Working abroad, the bright lights, fast pace, exotic foods and general hustle and bustle created a feeling of vibrancy and life, that was a million miles from life in the UK.
Having such a big change hoisted upon you can create an immediate sense of euphoria. There’s a freedom of exploration and pioneership! You’ll likely meet other expats during this time and share your adventure with them. It almost feels like a holiday, and a likely reason for this is that is that for those living and working abroad for the first time, your only foreign experience will have been a holiday.
During this time it’s easy to let your environment get the better of you. Working as a teacher in China, it’s very easy to fall into a trap of late nights, with plenty of food and drink, not to mention the sore heads the next morning for work.
Although it may not be the most fun way of looking at it, the best way to tackle this first stage is to remind yourself why you chose to work abroad in the first place. Remind yourself that you are not here for a holiday, you are here to work, and you have a commitment to your students and employer.
Get to know your place of work and try to befriend more of your native co-workers. They will be able to set realistic expectations about living and working in their country, and never forget that the expat friendship zone is an ever spinning carousel with people coming and going on a monthly basis…so make good friends, but prepare for departures!
As the excitement and exhilaration of stage 1 begin to dwindle, you will start to find niggling annoyances at your surroundings. Things you once enjoyed become irritating, and things that once amused you will become unbearable.
The excitement and rush of my daily commute became a crushed and confusing chore for me. The positive challenge of picking up Mandarin and learning in an immersive environment had become a motivation-sapping bore, and I just wanted everyone to speak the same language as me and for “things to be easy!”. The fun I had partaken in during my Honeymoon Stage started to feel as though it was having a negative impact on my work.
It was important for me at this stage to speak with my friends and colleagues about my professional problems, and to fall back on my experienced expat friends for support.
Still, I started to feel guilty for wanting to go out and enjoy myself on the weekends and in my spare time. The advice on ‘moderation’ and encouragement of my more experienced friends at this point was priceless and I was gradually able to realign my priorities and get myself back on my feet.
The third stage is where the corner begins to turn. You feel more confident and comfortable in your life and work. Things are even beginning to feel somewhat ‘normal’.
It was at this stage that I started to really practice my Mandarin in public. The fear and self-consciousness I felt at stage 2 had been replaced with a simple trial and error mentality to learning at this stage. Importantly, I also began to feel more part of the furniture at work. I was able to start bringing my own ideas to the table confidently and was now really noticing the value that my employers had placed on me.
It’s vital at this stage to strike while the iron is hot, to practice and harness your language skills. Also, remember to offer a comforting shoulder to those at stage 2, and a word of caution for those at stage 1. Being a long term expat puts you in a position of responsibility and exercising that responsibility is great to help you with a sense of purpose.
The final stage is coming to the realisation that you have accepted the differences that exist in the country in which you live as a simple fact of life. Those initially stark differences have now become normal to you, and you are able to navigate cultural hurdles with ease.
This is a good time to help those who are at an earlier stage of Culture Shock to you, both professionally and personally, and also to take stock of what you have learnt, and try to look in at your experience from an objective perspective.
After I had become comfortable in my new home country, I started to make a log of the experiences, both in the workplace and out. After a couple of years in the country, I also started to update my CV with my experience and gained transferable skills and started researching roles that my new skill set would suit upon returning home.
It was a great time for me to start to introducing such a diverse and exciting country to the teacher ‘newbies’. I will always remember the cross-over in my final week in China, introducing 2 bright-eyed new teachers, very much ready to be their honeymoon stage, to the country, and sharing a few gems of wisdom that had been imparted on me along the way.
In the end came the bittersweet goodbye to both China and the 4 stages of Culture Shock, looking back at the giddy faces of the new teachers as I approached Departures at the airport and giving them a wave, I stepped through the gate to board my flight back to the UK…ready to begin my period of ‘Reverse Culture Shock’!
Will Perrins is a former teacher and at present the Partnerships Manager for Opportunity China. Opportunity China place graduates and experienced teaching professionals in teaching roles across China, and offer an excellent level of personal support, guidance and pre-departure training to each and every candidate.
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