Moving to a new country is one of the most challenging changes in life. A lot of different emotions from excitement and happiness to regret and fear can and most often are part of it. Some kind of cultural shock will take place and if you know about it, maybe it will be a little bit easier to live through and get adjusted to a new culture, too. It is useful to understand the different phases and in this way make relocation to a new country smoother.
Here we present the four different phases of acculturation (Tsang-Feign, 2013):
Elation (first weeks / months): Everything is new and maybe even exotic – food, sounds, climate, people, language, you name it. Usually this is a time of excitement, curiosity and stimulation.
Resistance (first months): When everyday life starts and those exotic things are seen in a different light – maybe even being annoying. All in the home country seem to be “better” when comparing – it is normal to miss your favorite foods and understand what is written in the back side of your muesli. This is the most important phase to give yourself enough time.
Transformation (after eight months): Embracing again the good sides of a new culture and controversially even having a negative attitude towards or rejecting their own culture. “All” is better in a new country and culture.
Integration (around 12 months or more): Your heritage and the culture where you are living go hand in hand and it is natural to appreciate both.
How long does an onboarding to a new culture take? Does anything between six months to more than a year sound more or less familiar to you if you’ve moved abroad? Or could it be even more?
Sometimes as rule of thumb can help:
1st year everything is new
2nd year you already have some experience of the yearly repetitive things
3rd year it all will feel something you know