lewrockwell.com / By Mike Rogers / March 4, 2013
Recently, there’s been lots of talk, and rightfully so, about Americans escaping the USA to live in other countries. If you already have escaped and are already adjusted to your new home, I say, “Bravo!” If you haven’t yet done so, but are thinking about escaping, then all I can say is that you need to be prepared! This article is for you.
Of course, I can’t write about specifics for every country in the world, but I can write about generalities concerning expatriation. And that is what this article is about: Culture Shock. It is a common denominator concerning expatriation to any country of the world. It doesn’t matter if we are speaking about another developed western nation that speaks your language or some backwards dive in the sticks of Boroguay; Even those of stalwart mind and body, like Clark Kent, can be reduced to a pile of incoherent useless and drooling wet noodles by Culture Shock.
I have a friend whose son is moving to Japan. We’ve been having some correspondence and I really want to help my friend’s son get acclimated and become successful in the Land of the Rising Sun. (Gee, does that mean I have to immediately take him out every night getting so drunk we can barely walk and also have him start smoking two packs of cigarettes everyday within the first two days? No! That can wait at least a week or two!)
Here’s what I wrote to my friend:Seriously, I want to help any way I can so I thought I should bring up a nasty subject and that is about Culture Shock. I also thought since we’re here, you, dear reader, might find this information useful too!
Culture shock can really screw people up. Years ago, I was the liaison between foreigners and the Japanese management for a big company in Tokyo. We had about 480 foreign staff. From that experience, I’ve seen people just totally and completely fall apart. Really.
It really hits people when they become ill with the flu or something. It happened to me!
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