I have experienced culture shock once before. When I traveled to Argentina in the 5th grade with my family. From what I could remember me and my cousins constantly questioned why things were done different and complained a lot. After spending a few weeks in this other country I learned it is better to accept and to make of the best of the differences. Plus no one likes some one who complains all the time. After I learn to accept this new way of life I found my time in Argentina was much more enjoyable and I found things I liked that were done differently. For example, I love chocolate milk but most milk in Argentina is in powder form at first, this upset me but once I tried it I found that I actually like this new type of milk.
I know my experience in Argentina and Prague will be greatly different just because I have never experienced the language or food. I still believe the same coping methods can apply. Although I will not have my family with me to fall back on to I do plan on implementing some of the same methods. Such as, finding home when I am in Prague. What I mean by this is finding things that remind me of home while I am abroad. Also I will constantly remind myself that I only live once and to make the most of my journey. Overall I am not too concerned about culture shock but rather enjoying my time abroad.
There are more ways I plan to battle culture shock and that is by immersing my self into my studies. I know that if all else fails I can survive by myself and enjoy things on my own. Also I have a friend that lives in Germany a few hours away that would be more than happy to come and visit me. I am confident in the company that I choose to coordinate my study. CEA has setup activities and also links me to other students participating in the same study as me. That being said, I am confident that culture shock will not effect my study in a negative way.
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