Problems of moving - Keep Your Life, Family and Career Intact While Living Abroad - page 5

Whether people choose to or not, they will go through four stages of acculturation.
These are:
ELATION : When first in a foreign country, one finds it quite stimulating that most
things are so unlike back home. For Benjamin, the exotic Asian sights and sounds and
meeting the lively international expatriate crowd were all part of the initial excitement.
However, after several weeks, when one has to settle down to everyday life, the differences
can turn into annoyances.
RESISTANCE : Frequent comparisons between home and the host country make
everything back home seem so much better.
Benjamin is getting annoyed by the frantic pace of life in Hong Kong, the indirectness
of Chinese people in business, the crowds and difficulties in being understood. He is frus-
trated at the narrow choice of English-language entertainment on television or in cinemas
and theaters. He finds himself missing his old friends, favorite foods, and the ways of doing
things back home.
Many foreigners in this stage tend to associate only with others from their own country.
They constantly compare everything to “back in England” (or New York or Frankfurt).
Such people remain separate from the local community and establish their own secluded,
privileged society. Many expatriates remain in this stage until the day they move back
home.
TRANSFORMATION : Usually this occurs about nine months down the road, when
individuals feel more familiar with the environment and begin to see the good side of the
host country.
For example, Benjamin will probably appreciate the efficiency of service and be in-
trigued by many Asian customs and formalities, which he finds so much more attractive
and sophisticated than back home.
Often, people in this stage go to the extreme of rejecting their own culture. Immigrants
in particular may try to take on a totally new cultural identity. They refuse to speak their
native language or associate with their own countrymen. They tend to view their own cul-
ture with a negative attitude and disdain its customs and traditions as backward or crude.
As for expatriates, after months of adjustment they now appreciate the privileged and
exciting expat lifestyle: travel, cultural variety, domestic help, etc. They embrace life over-
seas, no longer wanting to return to the “average”, “boring” lifestyle back home. They may
put down people back home whom they see as naïve or narrow-minded. Many get stuck
in this stage. They either stay put in this particular expatriate society or move to another
foreign country so as to maintain their expatriate lifestyle.