The moment I received my application form from Westminster University I was thrilled, I stayed up all night looking through the prospectus and drooling over the wonderful studies I could attend there. English Literature, Linguistics and Language, a dream come true and the thought of me in London seemed even more appealing.
One of the top ten cities in the world and there would be little me, running around with two University education degrees in my back pocket.
True Felicity…
Then it hit me, London, England, a different country. Not that it would be the first time living in another country for a longer while for me but I am positive it would be permanent this time. My mind led me back to my first year here in Leeuwarden, the culture shock I had, even though I am officially Dutch, still, even for me it was strange, different and new.
I was surprised, maybe even scared, just as hundreds of others around me, about the difference of my home town, I didn’t see my friends as often as I could, no longer I heard my mom and dad say ‘goodnight’ to me in the evenings, but in the end… it was worth it.
The whole idea behind a culture shock is the feeling of depression because nothing is like your home town/country and you wish you could go back. It’s dreadful and many students suffer from it, some even
more than others. That moment in time when it feels like you can no longer cope and you want to break down and cry. You feel like you will never fit in, you don’t belong and you want to quit right there and then.
You start to question your decision to move here, your motives and that is the poison of your brain. Doubt
breaks you if you let it.
It takes great character and strength to live through it and keep going on.
I heard a story of someone who had been robbed three times in two months and still he went on with his schoolwork, he didn’t quit and he held on. If this had happened to me, would have freaked out and I would
have run home. Sharing his story probably also helped him because it lifts your feelings to share them with
others. This was one of my own solutions to get over my culture shock.
Being open to all the new influences in your life, the new people, the new culture, the new situations and
ideas. It is overwhelming but the beauty of it all is that you can get so much back from just trying! You will
be able to extend your prior and people knowledge. You will get to know yourself so well, you will learn
what you can really do.
And I guess this is exactly what I should do, when I move away again, hold on, breathe and open up.
For a tutor and a friend. P.N.
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