Preparations

Preparing yourself for a stay abroad, ranging from a couple of days to maybe five years, not only includes packing your suitcase but also your mental orientation on another country. Next to practical details (see next page), it includes getting acquainted with the other country, reading up on its history (see page 10), the other national culture, your own cultural competence and ultimately envisaging how you are going to deal with the cultural differences in hand.

General information about a country already gives a first impression of their way of thinking and acting, and the reasons behind it. The people you meet in the other country often appreciate that you’ve studied the background of their country, and it’s a great topic for general conversations and in getting to know people.

You cannot get an idea of another country if you do not do the effort, without judging immediately. Without a proper perception the differences are hard to bridge (one of the pillars of the bridge is not

strong enough) and may result in the failure of your stay abroad. The best way is to behave as a guest in a host country.

Gathering information about another country as such is not difficult at all, but keeping the overview of the available information and evaluating it (setting your own criteria) is hard. Internet offers tons of information, especially when using English search terms. Even on more or less closed countries information can be found, whether from refugees or from the professor that made that country his speciality.

While gathering information on another country you come across unique aspects of that national culture, which you would not be able to discover by using the various theories. Be open for this and take it into account in your documentation. Always remember that everything you see, hear and read, you do so through the lens of your own culture. You cannot observe objectively, but you can avoid the biggest mistakes.