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Understanding The Culture Of The Destination To Avoid Cultural Shock

June 3rd, 2008 · 1 Comment


Understanding culture of the destination helps you in a great way to avoid any sudden cultural shock. When visiting another country, you enter with a new cultural environment. The new environment may be completely different from your own culture. Cultural shock is the reaction one faces when confronted with a new cultural environment. Prior knowledge about a new culture will prevent you from experiencing the first signs of cultural shock. If you prepare your self with a few travel tips (as given below), you can better combat the culture shock.

Equip yourself with knowledge

If you are well aware of the different cultures, you can easily combat cultural shock. Read travel guides, travel tips, and the reviews of travelers related to your destination. Go through any challenges that the travelers face while in the specific the destination. You must know about the food, dress pattern, beliefs and practices, the likes and dislikes of the people of the proposed destination of your travel.

Be 0pen to your experience

Make up your mind that you are going to enjoy every bit of your trip. Take different characters and customs as a new experience. Make a habit to ignore any unusual behavior of the native people. You should try to understand a culture from its own perspective. No culture is superior or inferior. Rather every culture is unique in its own way. This feeling will help you to overcome the emotional states that might arise when you come across an alien culture.

Do not compare

Every society has it own unique customs. There are always negative and positive aspects of a society. Do not form any negative attitude towards any society based on your bitter experience of a few isolated instances. You must remember that you have chosen a new destination to learn and enjoy about its people and culture and not to change the way of living and thinking.

Respect the local people

Your trip will be more enjoyable if you become friendly with the local people. You can learn a few phrases spoken in the local dialect and use them frequently while meeting people. This will make the local people feels that your have respect towards their culture. They will the more friendly and co-operative towards you. You can wear local costumes to mingle up with the society and for fun.

For more information on travel guide and useful travel tips please visit http://www.ez-travel-guide.info including simple reviews on popular travel guide books.

Tags: Culture Shock

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Jeff // Jun 6, 2008 at 1:49 am

    Hi, I’m new to your blog, and I wanted to comment on this post, as you give some great advice to aspiring travelers. One thing I would add, though, especially to language learners, is that you should try to communicate as much as possible with native speakers of the language you are learning (and less with your fellow American students, for example). Also, it’s best not to be in touch with family and friends back home all the time, as this adds to the anxiety of missing home. Everybody goes through stages of homesickness, but it can definitely be averted to a certain degree, especially with some of the pointers you give above. Great advice!

    Looking forward to reading more of this blog in the future.

    Best,

    Jeff

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