Let the Adventure Begin! A Week-by-Week Guide to Moving Abroad
19 Weeks Until Overseas Move: Understanding the Culture when Moving Abroad - Cross-Cultural Training
Why Cross-Cultural Training?
"It is important to learn about the country that you are living in. Customs are different and learning about it was an interesting experience for me. Living it you learn a lot more, but taking a class in cross-cultural training is a great beginning. This way you know what to expect and not offend anyone so you understand the culture of the people," explains one ExpatExchange member.
If you are moving abroad because a company is relocating you, check with the HR department to see if your company will provide cross-cultural training. Many now hire experts to provide the training before you leave, or it may be part of your new employee orientation upon arrival. Either way, if you are moving with a spouse or children, ask if it's possible to include the family in whatever may be provided.
In the article, Burgi describes two types of Cross-Cultural Training (CCT) and how to approach this important training. Here are a few highlights:
CCT helps individuals prepare for the new and potentially stressful situations they will face living and working in a new culture. Many vendors of such training focus on providing participants with much diverse information about the new culture. Often, this training takes the form of "lecture with Q&As," similar to most of our experiences in college or university (i.e., a professor-student model). A small but growing group of vendors, however, approaches CCT as a structured adult learning program, which focuses on having participants develop the new skills they will need in the new environment.
Nothing is better than actual experience for the impact of learning. A way of creating the experiences that will make the learning "memorable" is to have opportunities to interact with real nationals of the assignment country. Treat the training event as an experience from which you can learn.
Possibly the single most significant aspect of a good CCT is making it "experiential" in ways that simulate experiences you will have in a new cultural environment. If the only experience that a CCT provides is a lecture, then the program implicitly teaches that "learning is passive." But if it provides experiences more directly connected with "real life," in which you have to engage and interact, then the program implicitly teaches that "learning is an active experience."
You can enhance your chances of completing a successful expatriate assignment by taking an active role in your preparation long before you leave home. And when it's time to come back-or go on to another foreign assignment-you'll be able to put those skills to good use once more.
Cross-Cultural Training on a Budget
A less expensive option is to head to your local bookstore or check with your favorite online retailer to see if they carry the "Culture Shock" series. Most countries are represented in this excellent series of books, which help you understand local customs and avoid embarrassing gaffes in your new country.
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Kendra Redman is a well traveled writer with a B.S. in
Journalism and a Master's in Writing. She has lived in
six countries and draws on her experience to write
about her adventures and misadventures. One of her
greatest travel accomplishments was once returning
from a trip with two end tables and two lamps as her
"carry on luggage."
This is an excerpt of our free e-newsletter, Let the Adventure Begin!. For full access, please subscribe to the e-version of Let the Adventure Begin! (free). You'll receive (free) weekly e-newsletters starting 8 months before your approximate move date and running through your first four months abroad.
