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It鈥檚 normal to feel stress when you鈥檙e adjusting to a new culture, climate, food, and language. Culture shock is a feeling of disorientation and anxiety that can make you feel homesick, bored, withdrawn, excessively tired, sad, irritable, and sometimes, sick. But remember鈥攊t鈥檚 normal, and as time passes, you鈥檒l begin to feel like yourself again.

Generally there are four stages of adjustment:

• Honeymoon stage: everything is new and exciting
• Anxiety stage: the culture shock symptoms begin to develop and you may wonder how you will cope
• Rejection or regression stage: you begin to encounter small problems that may overwhelm you
• Adjustment stage: you learn to cope, accept differences, and embrace your new environment

Ease the Transition

There are a lot of things that you can do to make the adjustment easier.

Here are a few to get you started:

• Attend your orientation! You鈥檒l make new friends and adjust faster.
• Remember that you aren鈥檛 alone. There are other students feeling the same way.
• Learn as much as you can about Canada.
• Participate in campus life. Join a student society or a sports team.
• Be positive. If something seems strange, difficult, confusing, or threatening, try to find a positive reason for why it might be happening. The International Student Centre can direct you to a huge range of student supports at Saint Mary鈥檚.
• Eat well and get lots of exercise.
• Try to find someone you can talk to. Perhaps a Canadian student, someone who has lived here for a long time, an international student advisor, or the residence assistant.

You鈥檙e never alone at Saint Mary鈥檚. Contact the International Student Centre for support.