What Is Culture Shock?

You might think that culture shock is what happens when you stumble upon a cart selling fried tarantulas on a steamy street in Bangkok. But that's just regular shock.

Of course, culture shock does involve coming into contact with a way of life very different from your own, but it's a condition that tends to develop over a period of time rather than something you'd experience on vacation.

The term "culture shock" was first popularized by Canadian anthropologist Kalervo Oberg, who had this to say about the condition: "Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs or cues include … when to shake hands and what to say when we meet people, when and how to give tips, how to give orders to servants, how to make purchases, when to accept and when to refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously and when not."

In short, when you find yourself immersed in a foreign culture, you can feel completely at a loss for how to act and interact in the new environment. This may lead to feelings of disorientation, anxiety, frustration, depression and an overall feeling of isolation. But the emotions that accompany culture shock aren't always negative. You may feel a sense of elation in what Oberg defines as the honeymoon phase of his four stages of culture shock. During this time, he says, a newly relocated person has positive feelings about the environment, even forgiving small annoyances and inconveniences and chalking them up to the "adventure."

However, in phase two, the phase that Oberg actually refers to as culture shock, those minor annoyances grow into bigger difficulties — everything is harder when you don't know the rules. This is made worse by the fact that the natives get along just fine and don't seem to be very helpful to your plight. This can lead to feelings of anger toward the locals and the trend to seek out other expats with whom you generally tend to gripe about your new homeland and its inhabitants.

Oberg's third stage is probably best called recovery, which is when the anger and frustration begin to abate, often being replaced by a sense of humor and resignation about the new locale. This is followed by the final stage, adjustment, when the new culture, its food, its people and its general way of operating are not only accepted, but also enjoyed.

To minimize the effects of culture shock, it's a good idea to become as familiar as you can with your new home before you arrive. Seek out blogs of people who blazed the trail before you; use Google Street View to "drive" along the roads in your new town; buy a guidebook; read the forums of popular travel Web sites; and check out a few YouTube videos. It's also wise to see if your new country has some type of online expat community where you can post questions about practical matters, get reassurances for your concerns and maybe even make a new friend in your new home.