Culture shock and migratory grief (2)

Culture adaptation shock has 4 steps:

The first one is the honeymoon phase characterised by excitement with new sounds, visions, smells. Shallow participation in the host culture (as a tourist). Intrigue with similarities and differences between the new culture and its culture of origin. He feels euphoric, energetic, fascinated and enthusiastic. It feels like I'm able to handle anything.

The second one is Rejection or regression phase: The physical fatigue of the previous phase is felt, they detect problems in the physical adaptation to the new environment (insomnia, problems with food or water). The subject is exposed to more exchange situations linguistic in which you realize that perhaps your language level he's not as good as he thought, he misses his family and friends and you feel alone and vulnerable. The differences between the two cultures are already evident and the The most frequent result is that the culture of origin comes out winning in the comparison: the culture of origin is idealized (everything is better in my country) and the target culture is blamed for the problems that the subject suffers when he does not know how to behave in a environment that is not familiar to him (in this country nothing works well, people are unfriendly, etc.). Feels confused, tired, scared, rejected, just, irritable, vulnerable and nervous every time he faces one of these situations.

Adjustment / negotiation phase: The individual adapts little by little to the new environment and start to develop routines (do the same way to class, buy in them stores, etc.), meet new people who can help interpret situations that do not understand at all, improve your language skills, he knows the city better and works well in she. Of course he is aware that culture of destination is different than your own culture but now he understands that it is not bad, only that he has than interpreting it using different patterns. There will be things that you like and things that you do not and, In addition, you will know why.

Domain phase "Feeling at home" Adaptation and Biculturalism. all the subjects spend enough time in a cultural environment to complete this phase in the that the subject could already pass for a cultural native of adoption. The "new" culture is no longer new; In contrast, the country "foreigner" you live in now feels like another home. Aspects of culture that are different already They do not affect you in a negative way. He is able to live and work to his full potential. As in the country of origin, he appreciates certain aspects of the foreign culture and is critical with others.

Another interesting points of view are leading by Pederson who argues that the cultural shock understands better as an intrapersonal process in which the stages do not necessarily happen sequentially but can occur alone or simultaneously. Paul Pedersen argues that, ultimately, the intercultural encounters often begin with the cultural shock and can stimulate the process of self-reflection and personal growth.