Arriving in a new country or culture is something every traveller experiences differently, for some it is all excitement at the new experiences and opportunities afforded by the change, for others it is largely fear at the changes they must undertake, learning different ways to function in their new environment, but for most it is a combination of the two, sitting somewhere between fear and excitement, expectation and trepidation.
When you emerge through the doors at the airport, train or ferry terminal, having cleared customs and immigration, you then need to start to understand customs of a different nature, coming to terms with language, monetary and cultural differences of your host country, different ways and methods of working, different communication structures and levels of individuality, power distances, uncertainty avoidance levels different to your home, different views of the future and the past and different levels of masculinity.
The new arrival may feel that they find themselves in a parallel universe, one where they look and dress like the residents of their host country but don’t understand the language, one where they find themselves confused at simple things like road crossings (do they look right or left before stepping out as the traffic may well be on the opposite side to what they are used to), a parallel world where you have problems deciding what to eat when you can’t read a menu or understand the labels on packages in the stores, and once you have managed to get the food, how do you pay for it if you don’t have an understanding of the local currency, should you tip or not? and if you do, how much should it be, so many questions…
In public, should the new arrival make eye contact with the locals, is it socially acceptable or a a sign of disrespect or intimidation? even determining which side of the pavement to walk on can be confusing as people from countries that drive on the right tend to also walk to the right, while those from countries which drive on the left would also tend to walk to the left, leading to some awkward encounters on both footpaths and stairs with both parties confused about what is happening. If the unwary traveller is not careful, these small yet confusing differences can lead to levels of xenophobia, where suddenly everything new and different is to be treated with fear and suspicion.
All of these subtle differences and many more can take even the most seasoned traveller by surprise when they eventuate, and no matter how well prepared the traveller may be, there is always something new to experience, however, over time, as with most other things in life, everyone adapts to the changes and what was only recently a surprising, confusing and worrying aspect of the new culture is suddenly the normal way to behave, until, that is, the next new things appears to be understood and adapted to.
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