Culture Shock

I've now been living in America for exactly a year and have not had too much culture shock, (I've lived here before and spent a lot of time here). However, I have had small pangs of culture surprise.. This includes having to change my order of 'water' to 'war-dar' so people can understand me, and also the first time I saw someone carrying a gun my husband and I immediately left the burger joint we are in! I also had no idea how much of a big role 'fish and chips' play in Americans' views of English people.  Overall I have felt very welcome, at home and have settled in to life in the states easily. 

On my ITC course we talked a lot about culture shock, focussing mostly on students transitioning to a new country. However we also talked about people going through the exact same stages during any big transition, including moving from primary to secondary school, becoming a teenager, moving jobs and more. 

Here are some great visuals showing the different stages of culture shock. When looking up at them imagine the experience of moving to a new country, but then also think about other transitions, like moving from primary to secondary school. As an adult it is definitely a process I go through when moving jobs, not just moving to my current job in a new country, but moving from any position.

It is important to let your students know that these feelings are totally normal and also to show them that things do get better! I will be a Grade 7 advisor this year, but will show these graphics to my students and ask them if they remember going through these during their first year of middle school, Grade 6. If we have time, I may also get students to make short animations or infographics to share with new students in the school.