New Environment

You travel to a new location to study in an unfamiliar environment. There is not only a change of physical environment. It also implies a different academic environment. The class is organised in a different way such as, a bigger class and a variety of learning modes. For sure, the teachers are new to you and they teach in different ways. Social environment in the university is also new to you. Your peers are new, even with different cultures and they interact in different ways. The extra-curricular activities are more diversified. And some of you are even going to stay in a residential hall instead of going home after school.

For Mainland students and international students coming to this new cultural environment, it is not uncommon for you to experience culture shock. This can bring up different kinds of emotions. Some of the normal feelings include mild uneasiness, anxiety and temporary homesickness. Recovery from those feelings takes time and it can take you up to a semester or so. In many cases, students can adopt some coping strategies and recover from culture shock by themselves.

However, if you experience some symptoms such as depressed mood, panic, inability to focus at work, sleep disturbance and change in appetite for more than two weeks, it is advisable for you to seek psychological help as soon as possible.