Love Turkey? Hate Turkey
Turkish Culture Shock
Love Turkey?
Hate Turkey?
As most expats will tell you, living in Turkey can be a little difficult. The Turkish culture is not explicit or easy to adapt to. Turks often show acts of kindness and forego their daily paradigms in their dealings with foreigners. Expats living in Turkey thus create comfort zones by avoiding the strains of Turkish paradigms.
Unfortunately the normal paradigms that work back home, do not work in Turkey. Assumptions that we use to assess business or social situations and communicate intentions are not valid. Losing mastery of basic situations can lead to a feeling of losing control. The inability to interpret the surroundings and act accordingly often leads to frustration, anxiety, and in some cases to depression.
Reaction to the new culture
After the initial euphoria of being in Turkey is over, the typical reaction most expats initially display to the Turkish culture is to reject the environment and the local people. Inevitably the comparison between “back home” and the “new home” is made. More often than not, customs and traditions in the “new home” are perceived as a little “strange”.
Dealing with this “strangeness”, and the difficult of adaptation to new business and social settings may result in withdrawal into work, family or the expat community. Other culture shock symptoms may include fatigue, tension, anxiety, excessive concern about hygiene at home, and the constant obsession with being cheated by the “locals”.
How to deal with “Culture Shock”
Improving daily communication with the local population will help you to adapt. There are numerous Turkish classes for foreigners. Alternately you can hire a private Turkish teacher.
Understanding the country, the people and the culture will help you to assess your differences and similarities better. Seek out opportunities to educate yourself about the Turkey’s history, geography, and traditions.
Exploration of the new culture by sightseeing will help ease the rigors of the learning curve. This can be a great opportunity for meeting other expat’s and locals.
How we adapt,
Expats are usually stationed in Turkey for a limited amount of time. Sometimes they choose to stay longer. There is a substantial expat population that has chosen to retire in Turkey. Others choose to leave as soon as their contract finishes. Some add to their careers and move up the corporate ladder; usually to a new international posting. Others fail dismally and the unsuccessful expat posting becomes a career mute point.
International business success comes as a result of how we adapt to new cultures. The better and quicker we adapt, the more successful we will have. 18/04/08
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