Most immigrant/refugee experience culture shock
Culture shock is the disconnect you feel living in a foreign land with customs, behaviors and looks that are different from what you are accustomed to.
Those immigrants/refugees who come from villages in Africa or South America they may feel anxious, fearful and distrustful of strangers with whom they may have little contact in their previous lives.
Europeans who were never exposed to people who are different especially Black people may be afraid of their new neighbours who are Black, Brown and Yellow and may feel very uncomfortable. They may be shocked to see the variety of multicultural people in Canada.
When you are experiencing culture shock you will feel as though you are walking in your sleep trying to wake up.
The euphoria of leaving the war, hunger, poor ecnomic fortunes and bad situations in your past life in refugee camps will disappear after a month or two and the cold reality of having to learn everything from scratch, not having as much support as you may have expected, finding that some people in the various agencies that are supposed to help you may be burnt out and do not have as much patience with you or your situation.
You will feel alone, isolated and lonely. Some people may go on to have full blown depression. You miss the familiarity of home, your friends, your family, your music, the scents - all that you will not know when you will experience again. That makes people sad.
If you arrive in the summer that is better. If you arrive in the winter your first shock will be the cold and the snow. One young refugee said that when he first came to Canada and saw the white snow he thought it was sugar or salt, but when he touched it, he realized it was cold.
Some people are unfamiliar with basic household amenities such as flush toilets, hot and cold water from the same pipe and electric stoves. This can be dangerous and also frustrating for people. They have to learn everything new. For young people this is not a problem but for older people learning new tricks could be daunting especially when they have so much on their minds.
Spontaneous crying for no reason could be a symptom of culture shock.
Culture shock takes on many forms but it is a general feeling of dislocation and failing to get a good grip on life in your new country.
Do not be dismayed, however, this feelings pass with time. What you need is support. Find people, organizations, institutions that can support you through this difficult period.
