The three most stressful things when you live or study abroad
As an international student, perhaps studying abroad might not struggle to make ends meet. However, only if you have experienced it yourself, can you understand how pressure other than money affects your physical and mental condition.
Thinking of my experiences of studying and living in the UK for more than six years, I would like to share how I felt and thought about people living overseas. Most people who have studied abroad know that living in a foreign country has to face many challenges, such as cultural adaptation, language barriers, academic pressures and chores.
These worries seem trivial but might slowly accumulate over time and become unresolved emotional burdens for international students' mental health. They probably are not aware of it until they find that their physical and mental have been seriously affected. Besides, living in a foreign country, people might not know where to get support or how to deal with such a situation that hasn't happened before.
The following paragraphs will illustrate three major pressures of international students are most likely to encounter in overseas life, as well as how these stresses affect psychological health.
1. Adaptation to cultural differences and academic pressure
Studying abroad means you will encounter people who don't speak the same language as you. Therefore, it is more challenging to cooperate with international classmates to complete the assigned schoolwork. Because people from different countries might have different ways of expressing ideas, we have to try to communicate in common languages.
Besides, to cooperate with your team members, you must understand everyone's expression or habit of doing things. For example, the most common difficulty encountered by Asian students is "proactively expressing opinions", which is the opposite of European and American students. The diverse way of expression may also reinforce stereotypes for both sides, Asians are too quiet to have opinions and Westerns ask too many questions.
2. The difference in consumption habits between the foreign country and home country
Imagine that when you live in your home country, you may not be too thrifty when purchasing necessities in daily life. Compared to a foreign country in which the cost of living is probably two or three times than your hometown, especially dining out. Try to imagine if you are exhausted after work, and just want to take a rest and have some food but ordering food costs much more than cooking, which one will you choose?
In terms of eating, the biggest difference between Western countries and Asian countries is that the one-week expense in the supermarket may be equal to a one-time dine-out with friends. That is why the majority of international students have become amateur cooks after returning to their home country. In addition to the reason for saving money, it is also because the local cuisine can not be found in a foreign country.
3. The expectations from the family and the guilt of not making it
Most international students' tuition and cost of living are mainly supported by their parents. When understanding that parents try to be as frugal as they can to save money for them to study abroad, they feel guilty about not spending wisely on their parents' hardship. Working part-time, trying to find ways to earn money, or carefully controlling the budget, are common for international students. It may not be consistent with people's stereotypes that "international students are rich, or no need to worry about money".
Besides, parents or families will expect their kids to have better job opportunities or salaries after finishing the degree abroad, to show that the expense they spent is worth it. In contrast, some international students might determine to stay for work after finishing their degree, and it might not be expected the same by their parents. However, having foreign identities, international students must prove that their capabilities are better than those of locals in order to acquire a working visa sponsored by a company. This is a quite stressful process and completely different from finding a job in your home country.
Sometimes the pressure can be a motivation but when it becomes overwhelming, we have to be more aware of the impact on our mental or physical conditions. Studying or living abroad may be a brave choice for different life experiences, but it is significant to ask for help when you have difficulty dealing with the adjustment. If you are looking for professional assistance, perhaps a therapist who understands your language and culture, or might have experience living abroad, can be a good choice for you.
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