|
The
expatriate experience is like a performer's first juggling act.
The budding artiste can miss the odd ball but still smile and carry
on --- or drop all the balls and walk off the stage, defeated. The
line between success and failure tends is fine. Often it takes very
little to tip the balance; a bit of support here, a piece of advice there.
Expatriates
need skills to function competently in a foreign environment.
Some they will already have and must mobilize. Others, such as
language skills and intercultural skills, general or culture-specific
must be learned. Just getting around the new environment physically
can be a challenge whether it's catching the public transport or
driving. A primary skill is the ability to handle periods of
difficulty, frustration and possibly depression because culture shock
is a reality for all expatriates, new and experienced alike. Going
through it in one country does not immunize against a new dose in the
next country.
Expatriates
should not only survive but thrive. The ideal sojourn is not an
experience that an individual or family should 'get through' so they
can go home and restart life again, but a growing experience. Each
person should go home with a broadened perspective and with new
skills. However, a foreign environment can feel very threatening and
send expatriates rushing for cover. The need to make too many changes
at once can provoke a counter reaction -- an unwillingness to make
any changes, a retreat into inflexibility, obsessive or neurotic
behavior. Good preparation and support can help avoid such reactions
and help expatriates profit from their experiences abroad.
 |
