HAVING worked several years, you have finally decided to study further in a foreign country. Your visa has arrived.
All your efforts of coining a good Statement Of Purpose, getting a good GRE score et al, for your application, has borne fruit. You have quit your current job, booked your flight, started packing and bid your goodbyes.
You are a student again. But this time, it may not be such a cakewalk. Learning to live in a new culture is almost like learning to walk again.
Every society has its own norms and value systems, and you may be in for a culture shock. You might realise, gradually, that you are in a foreign land, where things happen in a totally different way, often feeling lonely, disoriented and a feeling of powerlessness.
Remember: it happens to everybody. And, whether you like it or not, it will happen to you after the initial excitement of having finally arrived wanes.
Don't be Mr/ Ms Lonely
During my first month in the United States, I often found myself on the pavement, crying. It took me some time to realise I was feeling isolated in a city where nobody looked or talked like me.
I was forced to talk in English all the time (and not a combination of Hindi and English, as I was familiar with). My way of speaking English was different from theirs and I had to make all decisions on my own. There were no parents or friends with whom I could discuss my problems. It was scary. There are some ways to cope.
Mingle with the new crowd
The key: network with as many people as possible. Make friends. Develop a social strategy, which can help you fulfill at least some of your emotional needs.
When Deepti was studying management at Liverpool, UK, she made it a point to make friends with people from different countries. Getting together to cook a meal is probably the most universal international student experience the world over.
And, yes, the best part of going and living abroad is the opportunity to meet people from other cultures and countries. So don't only stick to people from your own country.
Photograph: AP/Akira Suemori
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