Culture Shock

It happens to everyone, they say.  It's suppose to happen when you've been there just a bit.  But I think it already happened to me when I decided I wanted to live in Malta.

 

Culture shock is very different than just missing home, although missing home is one of the stages of culture shock.  In fact, it's probably one the things that doesn't go away, but just lets up a little more as time goes on.

 

What do you miss most about home?

Friends & family
64.24% (7099)

Favourite foods
7.47% (825)

Favourite TV programs
5.49% (607)

The weather
5.31% (587)

Nothing!
17.48% (1932)

This a survey that appears on a really good expat site called Expat Focus.  I guess it's not surprising that most expats said they missed their friends and families the most.  I pick that one, too, although I'm not even in Malta yet. But check out this site because the comments that accompany the survey are very interesting:  Expat Focus

I've been in Malta for about nine months now.  I'm going through the phase of thinking that "Malta would be great if not for the Maltese."  But I really like living here, meeting other expats and interacting with Maltese people.  I now have a job teaching English at a school in Sliema and have national health insurance for the first time in my life. I will have to reapply for everything in September...but I do have a job! 

Here's a an excerpt from a great article on culture shock.  To read the entire article please click here:  Expat Women - Helping Expatriate Women Living Overseas - Expat Relocation Abroad - Expat Blogs.

Will Culture Shock Happen To Me?

ExpatWomen Confession: Dear EW Girlfriend, Greetings from Vancouver, Canada. My husband and I are on the verge of our first expatriate assignment and are very excited to be moving to London. I think that this will be a very easy transition for us, as English is our first language and the English way of life and culture seems rather similar to our own. However, an experienced expat friend of mine warned me that sometimes it is more difficult to settle into English-speaking countries as opposed to countries that speak a foreign language and have a completely different culture. How could settling into a similar country be more difficult than moving to a country that is vastly different? Surely this was just her own personal experience and not typical of expats on the whole, right? TG