Dealing with culture shock will be the biggest challenge of my study abroad trip. I think that adapting to this new culture will mostly be a time game. Since I will be in Chambery, France for two months, I should have enough time to go through the "U". I am sure that when I first arrive, everything will be new and exciting. But once stress from classes and from not knowing very much of the language set in, I will feel the full negative effects of culture shock. However, I have some ideas of ways to deal with it.
Whenever I feel too stressed out here, I usually talk on the phone to my best friend. I know that I can use this strategy in France. Soon, I am going to Verizon to get an international plan for the time that I will be abroad. This way, I can be sure that I will have the ability to communicate with friends and family back home while I am in Europe. Withe their support, I know I can make it through any difficult situation even when i am thousands of miles away.
I also do not want to keep up with home so much that I forget to experience life in France. I will limit communication with home to just the times when I really need to talk to a familiar person. Hopefully I will find the right balance so that I can talk with people back home to get through any tough times and stay away from my phone when I am experiencing life in Chambery.
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