Culture shock and advice - Level 4

Culture shock

Culture shock is when you have a shock when you arrive in a new country. Nothing is the same as in your own country. You might feel lonely, nervous, confused, homesick and nobody is there for you.

Our experience of culture shock in NZ

When we arrived in NZ we all had different types of culture shock because we all come from different countries.

For some students the weather was very strange because in Christchurch the weather is really changeable. Sometimes the sun is shining then comes the rain and in the winter there is snow! Some people in our class have never seen snow!

The food here in NZ is very similar to the food in England. Most people like fish & chips. In some homestay families they always cook potatoes and beans! It’s not like the weather, it is unchangeable!

Young Kiwi people sometimes wear very interesting clothes. They wear sandals, hot pants and a winter jacket! And all that in very strong colours like pink, blue, green and orange!

Some of us had a picture in our heads about NZ, that NZ has a lot of nature, the ocean and animals! But in Christchurch centre you can’t see anything like that. That was, in the first moment, very difficult for some people. But then, on the weekends some of us have gone on trips to the West Coast, Mount Cook or Akaroa. And so we have seen NZ like it is on the books.

Advice on how to adapt to Christchurch

The wind in Christchurch is very strong so you should not bring an umbrella. You should bring a raincoat.

You should wear suncream because the sunlight is very strong.

You should go to Worcester St. because this street has a lot of places you can go to for example Arts Centre, Art Gallery, Canterbury Museum, Botanic Garden, punting and so on.

You should get a Metro bus card because it’s cheaper and easy.

You should go to cafés. Christchurch has a lot of cafés and they are really nice.

You should go to Cathedral Square. If you go there on the weekend, there is a market. You can buy some NZ souvenirs.

Advice on how to enjoy Dominion

You should speak only English in Dominion because there are 21 different nationalities.

You should try to play table tennis & pool to make some friends.

You should open your mind because you’ll meet some new people from very different cultures.

You can borrow some books and DVDs from the Dominion library. It’s an opportunity to learn English quickly.

You should join activities on Friday and the weekend and explore the best places in NZ.

If you have some problems anytime, anywhere you can ask Georgina or other Dominion staff.