EXPERIENCE: How I Deal With Culture Shock In University?

Hi guys. It's been a long time since my last entry for the Experience series. So, today I'm back with a new topic which is "How I Deal With Culture Shock In University?" Without wasting more time, let's get started.

In case you are not sure what is culture shock, I will define it first. Culture shock is an undesirable feeling experienced by someone who are in a place that they are not familiar with. They may feel loneliness, depress, homesick et cetera. It usually happens when someone need to deal with cultural, life style and attitude differences.

For your information, I studied in a university that the environment is really different from my hometown. At first, I felt that it was not a place that suit me. The people and the food were so different although I was still in Malaysia. In addition, there were international students too.

One of my efforts in dealing with culture shock is improved my English proficiency. I felt that language barrier was one of the factor why I thought it was difficult to have a conversation with others. After I slowly improved my English proficiency, I was not only able to talk to others confidently but it was also easier for me to understand the lectures slides that were written in English.

Besides, I tried my best to try new food and eating style. In my hometown, it is common for us to have rice-based meal such as nasi minyak, nasi kerabu and nasi berlauk even for breakfast. However, at my university, it was hard to find that kind of food. Therefore, I familiarised myself with western food and spicy food. I just tried the food so that I knew which one is suitable for me. At the same time, I introduced Pahang traditional food like sambal hitam to my friend. 

Other that that, I also needed to deal with people who thought that I was weird and like to stare at me when I wore baju kurung to class. Since the students in my university came from different background, all of us had different clothing culture. For me, I respected others' culture but at the same time I stick to my clothing preferences. I glad that I made the decision and I got the opportunity to lend my baju kurung to my classmate for our cocurricular subject assessment. 

In my opinion, when dealing with culture shock, the best way for us to deal with it is to adapt to the new environment but only until certain extend. The reason why we need to adapt is because it will reduce the culture shock effect. However, bear in mind, do not lose your identity just to fit into the new environment. Try to find a way on how you can be yourself and at the same time feel accepted by others.