Although going to live in a foreign country can be an exciting adventure, it’s sometimes a difficult experience. Everything is new and different: big things like the language and culture, and smaller things like where to buy bus tickets or if you can go shopping on a Sunday. Feeling a bit out of control can make you feel helpless, confused, and frustrated.
There are usually several stages that you have to go through before you can feel at home in your new environment. After the initial excitement of arriving, reality can make you feel angry and impatient. You may even blame your new home for this. Then, as you begin to understand and appreciate your new world better, you start to feel less uncomfortable, and eventually you settle in. Not everyone goes through all these stages – and some people don’t spend long enough in the new culture to go through them.
The Honeymoon stage: First, the differences between the old and new culture are seen in a romantic light, everything seems exciting and wonderful, and the move just feels like an extended holiday abroad. You might love tasting new dishes, enjoy the different pace of life and cultural customs, even the way people dress differently.
The Negotiation stage: It may take a few frustrating days, weeks, or months to accept all the differences between the old and new culture. Some people start to miss food the way it is prepared ‘back home’, others find the locals’ different habits annoying or their lifestyle too fast or slow.
The Acceptance stage: A few more weeks or months, and you get used to the new culture and develop your everyday routine. By this point, you don’t think of your ‘new culture’ negatively or positively, because it no longer feels like a new culture. You just get on with your life. This is now your home.
The Reverse Culture Shock stage: Ironically, when you return to your own culture, you may go through the same experience in reverse, and find that you no longer feel completely at home in the country you were born in.
Some people will give up trying to feel at home in their new country and return home sooner than they planned. Others get so used to the new world that they choose to stay there permanently because they can no longer live anywhere else.

Match five of the underlined words to the definitions.
1 an unusual, exciting or dangerous experience
2 at the beginning
3 to enjoy or understand the value of
4 longer, increased
5 the usual order or way that you do things
6 for ever

reginaruzova1    1   12.05.2020 14:50    0