Get Set For the Shock of Your Life:
What is Culture Shock and How to Beat It

What is Culture Shock?
Let's Take a look at Its Phases and How to  Deal With it.

What is culture shock exactly? It  is one trial most teachers go through when teaching English in Japan. Almost every English teacher experiences it in some form or another and some don't know they are even going through it. The severity, how long it lasts and how quickly you get through its phases depends on your personality and how you deal with change.

Culture Shock. "Oh Man Not Again!"

Nine out of ten teachers who go to Japan for their first time to teach English get to spend at least a little time in the bubble. What’s the bubble you ask? It’s the first phase of culture shock. It’s like Disney Land but bigger. It’s a feeling of happiness and wonder. It goes something like this...

So here is a story or a common thing we hear from site visitors that Is quite common and  is one of the first phases you go through even before "what is culture shock" ? even  pops into your head and it goes roughly something like this...

This mindset is the bubble and the kick-off to the culture shock parade. Considering for the lucky it can last 6 months or more, it’s a whole lot cheaper than vacationing 6 months in Hawaii. But alas, all good things must end. And it does.

Just like that certain day in your childhood when you suddenly realize, “I’m not a kid anymore,” so also in Japan this day comes. The laws of physics have a counterpart in the world of emotions. What goes up must come down. And so does the high. The bubble breaks and down we go.

What is Culture Shock?   Dave Trippin Looks at Some aspects of it. Some of it might surprise you.

So what is culture shock? It depends on who you ask but psychologists say it is a "state of bewilderment and distress experienced by someone who's suddenly exposed to a new, strange or foreign social and cultural environment" and Japan definitely meets this criteria.

Culture Shock and The Next Phase

How you deal with this phase  usually determines how long you stay in Japan. Some basic characteristics of this phase of culture shock are: loneliness, desire to return home, feelings of being overwhelmed or lost in the new culture and insecurity.

Wonder gets replaced with irritation. Blaming the new culture for problems you face instead of overcoming them becomes a focus. These are just a few of the symptoms of culture shock. Some also get physical symptoms and of course, not everyone experiences these problems.

Most personalize all this and fail to see what’s really happening. Which is, the mind is temporarily being overwhelmed by a sea of change. These feelings are the natural outcome of the mind as it grapples with and tries to solve the problem of integration and adjustment.

This also is the fork in the road and where the path divides. Usually 2 things happen. The teacher decides to “fix” the problem of integration by getting back on a jet or decides to “stick it out”.

What is Culture Shock? Phase 3

Those who don’t call Delta, experience phase 3. The mind, being one heck of a machine for solving problems, rapidly takes it in and begins the Herculean task of integrating all the newness of Japan. Instead of constantly feeling overwhelmed, the new teacher starts developing confidence and familiarity. Feelings of isolation get replaced as you build out your network and adjust to the fact that meeting new people is just done differently in Japan. The blaming Japan for everything under the sun starts to slow-down. The “Why can’t they be more like my countrymen?” gives way to an appreciation for Japan, and thoughts of life here long term and perhaps getting married in Japan with a Japanese citizen.

Which Group will you fit in?

When teachers head to the east to try their hand at teaching, inevitably some will stay for decades others just days. What separates these groups of teachers? Mostly a spirit of adventure that embraces change, tenacity, the desire to understand and appreciate something new and probably a little bit of luck.

Survival Tips for Dealing With Culture Shock

• Realize that pointing fingers and blaming, depletes energy and wastes time. Way more here.
  
  
• Develop your network of friends more. Have some beer with peers but not to the point of cutting yourself off with the Japanese community that surrounds you.
  
  
• Be thankful for what you have. Innocent people rot in jail cells. There are millions without enough to eat. So get a grip. At least you're getting paid.
  
  
• Exercise and vitamin B supplements are excellent stress busters.
  
  
• Remember you’re not alone and everyone goes through it. Ask co-workers & friends how they best coped with it.
  
  
• One of the biggest answers to the question, "What is culture shock?"  Is the dawning of the reality - I can't read or communicate to solve my everyday problems.
  
  If a lot of your troubles are coming from the inability to speak Japanese, buckle down and study. Get some study partners lined-up where you exchange English for Japanese. Better yet start studying before you go. One of the fastest and cheapest ways to get started studying Japanese is with our site sponsors Japanese Pod 101. Tons of free pod casts, lessons and even seasonal themes like Christmas, Valentines day etc. Apps and sound files are also available.
  
  Below is a nice video tour of Japanese Pod 101. Take a gander at how wickedly powerful this platform is. 

And You can sign up with just your e-mail address. No credit card, no other crap required. Just click below to get started.

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