Yes! Extroverts Get Culture Shock Too
I had been anxiously awaiting my semester abroad so much that I didn’t sleep the night before my 7 a.m. flight to London. I’ll admit I was too tired to do my normal fidgeting on the plane but once I touched down in the U.K. I felt a wash of relief and assurance that the semester would go my way.
During IFSA orientation, we discussed topics involving academics and diversity (check and check). When we had begun the section on culture shock I felt as if I were going through the motions. I’d been abroad before, knew the stages and my home university covered it as well. I thought “these slides are for everyone else, not me”. I’ve been on the move ever since I learned to walk at 9 months old. You could say that I’m a “textbook extrovert”. I knew that I was supposed to ask for help, always check-in and so on; but something I didn’t account for was the social transition.