A Fish out of Water: Teaching Abroad and Culture Shock!

Notes from the General Manager by Diane Jacoutot

It was announced today that the EU has agreed to plans for an EU wide banking supervisor in 2013. The agreement is seen as a pre-cursor to allowing the European Central Bank to give emergency money to ailing banks without going through national governments and pesky, short-sighted politicians which should make crisis management go quicker. And it’s only taken us 3 years of non-stop crisis talks to reach this point.

Solving problems is something that we do all the time, and we know instinctively how it works in our home country. A child gets bullied in the playground? You know how the reporting is done, what is required and what to expect will happen next.  Your landlord won’t fix a broken tap? You know who to call and what to do if you cannot get your point across to the first person you speak to.  A parent politely asks you to change a grade on their child’s paper? You know whether this is acceptable or not, and how to react.

But when you are in a foreign country you can literally throw away your old rule book. You are a fish out of water. You must make a new rulebook and this can be very disconcerting until the new rulebook is written in your mind and only then will you feel confident again.  I think pretty much everyone has looked at news reports of something happening in a foreign country and thought – Why are they dithering around, why can’t they just.......   and imagined how you would sort it if you were in charge. But the fact is that if you were magically transported to that country and you tried to fix a problem in a way that works at home, it probably wouldn’t work.

Culture is the air that we breathe and the water in which we swim, and we don’t really recognise its impact until we are taken out of it.  It’s frustrating at first – and this forms the basis of “Culture Shock” which is a reaction (emotional and sometimes even physical) to this change of environment, rather like a fresh water fish being moved to a brackish pond.  To read more about culture shock and how to cope click HERE.   It's something that Teachanywhere tries to prepare all of its applicants for.

So how can you navigate the cultural divide between your new and old culture?

The best advice is to understand your new country as best you can.  A good place to start is with Gerte Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. It gives you a snapshot into different facets of culture by country and the trick is to compare the new country to your own.  Remember there is no right or wrong, just different.

For instance, if your home country has a low ‘power distance’ – i.e. decisions are usually made at a low level in a hierarchy – and you move to a high power distance country like the UAE or Russia where even small decisions have to run up the chain of command and then back down, it will seem like decisions take forever to be made and that the people at the low level with whom you are dealing are just being obstinate and useless. But they are not- they are doing their part and they know their part in the process even if you do not. It instantly becomes less frustrating and you can reset your expectations with this knowledge.  To find out more about Hofestede’s cultural dimensions for your country/ies, click HERE. Click on each of the dimensions to understand what they mean and then go to the “Countries” tab and click on your country and then your country of interest to see how they differ.

When on the ground, you should also seek out someone who can act as a cultural guide and ask them for advice before you assume things. The best guide is an expatriate with at least 2 years of experience in that country but try to find at least two guides if you can to get a range of viewpoints. If you cannot find an experienced western expatriate then try to find a person who knows a little about your culture and who understands that there is a cultural gap such as a host national who has themselves lived abroad.  These people can serve as the editors of your new rulebook and are invaluable as you make your transition.

You should also look out for and try to recognise the signs of culture shock and understand how this might influence your emotions and outlook on any problem you encounter. Usually it makes them seem worse than they are. The good news is culture shock is temporary and you WILL feel differently in about a month’s time so try to stick it out with as much good humour as you can muster.

But the message here, as always, is that the more you can prepare yourself for your cultural experience the better you will be.  The more research you can do and the more open minded you can be the smoother the transition will be for you. And when you make the transition and become accustomed to two or more different cultures, you will feel proud and special that you have this knowledge that few other people have.

It’s  a gift... but a gift you have to work for.