Mgts 3606 Final Exam

The phases of cultural adjustment: STAGE 1: TOURIST, it can be called “The Honeymoon”. It is Initial Euphoria/Excitement. You will have excitement with new sounds, sights, smells, superficial involvement in the host culture (like a tourist).You will be interested in both similarities and differences between the new culture and your home culture. Lots of interest in learning, very motivated and cooperative. You feel as if you will be able to handle anything-“I am not going to have any problems adjusting!” STAGE 2: Crisis Culture Shock, it is Irritation and Hostility. The novelty of the new culture has worn off, and you now focus primarily on the differences between the new culture and your home culture. Small differences feel like major catastrophes. You become overly concerned with and stressed out by problems and feel helpless and frustrated, such as you cannot access e-mail from your apartment/dorm. Stereotypes and prejudices surface: you feel as if the host nationals are cold, unhelpful, and snobbish. You will search out home-country friends. You are homesick. You miss your friends and family in the home-country, and to make matters worse, you hear that the weather in Princeton is glorious. STAGE 3: Pulling up, Gradual Adjustment, Humour, and Perspective. You are becoming more familiar with the new culture and its “logic” and values. Cultural cues become easier to read. You feel more comfortable and less isolated, and you even begin to prefer some aspects of the new culture to your home culture. You feel like “As long as I am here, I should make the most of it.” You experience periodic personal highs and lows, as adjustment gradually takes place.  Your sense of humour returns. You are able to laugh at certain ways of doing things that previously just annoyed you and even to laugh at yourself from time to time. Since you are past the initial, emotional stages of cultural adjustment, you can now enter a stage of “deeper learning.” You begin to see a multitude of approaches to your life abroad and to question some of your assumptions about the world. This can be both exciting and unnerving. STAGE 4: Adjustment, “Feeling at Home”. The “new” culture is no longer new; instead, the “foreign” country you live in now feels like another home. The aspects of the culture that are different from your home-country no longer affect you in a negative way. You are able to live and work to your full potential. Just like you do in your home-country, you appreciate certain aspects of the foreign culture and are critical of others.

The Readjustment challenge: Home country societal changes-The nature of work is constantly changing - the workplace culture, policies, procedures, duties and salary levels are now more likely to respond to global influences. If you have kept in regular contact whilst you have been away, you may be aware of these changes or you may need to spend some time with locals who can give you an up to date summary of the current environment. After extensive research, you may find that there is no equivalent position anywhere in your home country that matches the salary, complexity and lifestyle that you had whilst working overseas.  So if you can define success in terms of your family receiving a good education, regular holidays and an opportunity to explore a career you 'always wanted to try,' then this may be the time to re-train in a new field and transfer some of your skills into an entirely different direction.  See the challenges as a reason to explore new options. Reverse culture shock-You have had a chance to be 'you' and now you are moving back to an environment where a 'label' may be waiting to be stuck on you because the people you know will remember the way you were and not be ready to see the 'new' you. Many people will not be interested in hearing your story, looking at your photographs or listening to you speaking another language. Reverse culture shock is the feeling of suffering culture shock in your home country (which you would expect to be familiar). There may be a honeymoon period on your arrival and then you may experience the dramatic ups and downs before life regains equilibrium. Your values may have changed-You may now be seeking a new lifestyle with your family but find that you still need an intellectual challenge and comparative financial rewards.  Your brain has had to cope with many interesting and complex issues and readjusting to a 'simpler life' is often harder than 'speeding up.' If you have been in a third world environment and are returning to a consumerist society, it may also be difficult to adjust and not be negative about the local culture and media.

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