Moving to a new country can be an exciting, even exhilarating experience.
In a new environment, you somehow feel more alive: seeing new sights, eating
new food, hearing the foreign sounds of a new language, and feeling a different
climate against your skin stimulate your senses as never before. Soon, however,
this sensory bombardment becomes sensory overload. Suddenly, new
experiences seem stressful rather than stimulating, and delight turns into
discomfort. This is the phenomenon known as culture shock. Culture shock is
more than jet lag or homesickness, and it affects nearly everyone who enters
a new culture-tourists, business travelers, diplomats, and students alike.
Although not everyone experiences culture shock in exactly the same way,
many experts agree that it has roughly five stages.