The infamous Hunter building of Victoria University of Wellington, where I am doing postgraduate studies.
From the New Zealand Scholarships Student Handbook, there is a trend for how a student’s culture shock looks like. It is similar to that of a roller coaster, where you’ll start at the top and then it goes down in curves and turns. Culture shock’s depressed times are sometime between 3-4 months. And marking from my experience, it is exceptionally true.
I started this journey with a fair amount of hope. I left my family back in the Philippines in an unfortunate place: a hospital. It was a bad farewell. My mind wasn’t set for travelling when I had to. I have always looked forward for this travel, but it was a lot more difficult than expected. And having lived at home for the past year and having got used to the comfort of family and home, travelling away will not become an easy feat. With three plane rides and two international flights, I can see from in-flight monitors the plane’s geographical position. As if this plane’s job is only to take me away from my family. Before I boarded my plane to Sydney, I had a quick video chat with my parents. And that’s when I can’t prevent my tears from falling down. It was an excruciating emotion.
I arrived Wellington greeted by the people here already in contact with me, and seeing them was a great sigh of relief. I am happy to have finally arrived here. But in the next few days, which turned to weeks and months, that I am slowly and consistently suffering from culture shock. I complained about a lot of things, didn’t understand some local practices, and doubted people around me, even myself. I have not enough time to waste, and I must recognise the problem: the symptoms of culture shock.
At first, I thought I can prevent culture shock rather than cure it. That sort of denial had made me suffer its subtle yet persistent consequences. I am never sure of a lot of things. I don’t wake up early, I have no picture of what my day will look like, nothing to look forward to. And it is affecting my productivity towards my research, my lifestyle, and the new people around me.
The season is changing, and from now on it will just get colder. I toppled me for the first few days, added also by stress from my research. I have no time to waste, so things must change, and it should start with me. Watching culture shock videos online, one thing I got was to enact change as if everything is in your hands. Every decision to wake up, to get up, to be happy and be excited for the day, and to choose being positive despite downfalls and stress. From now on, everything is an active conscious decision.
Everyday is a chance to grow as a person, and a chance to explore new things. But it requires getting out of your comfort zone. In order to achieve this, I cannot remain in the same person that I am. I need to be different, and I need to change.
