Am I having a cultural shock?
I came to SG yesterday to formally accept a job offer and relocate from UK. The meeting went great but the whole day I spent indoors, never got out and feel asleep early due to jetlag.
Today I started exploring the city and somewhere mid-day, out of nowhere, I felt like I want to cry (I’m a man in my 40s). I held it until I got back to my hotel and just burst into tears.
I do feel miserably hot, yes.
I do fear bringing my whole family over, yes.
I am afraid my wife willl loose her job, sure.
I am afraid my kids will not take well the new school and environment, naturally.
I am afraid how I will fascilitate the move itself, sure.
But none of these reasons are big enough for such an emotional responce. I was traveling in MRT whole day and I was always the only european person around, while everyone I talked to told me SG is this super diverse ‘melting pot’. This was my first trip here. Maybe my expectations didn’t come true?
Anyways just needed to write tthis somewhere as I feel reall terrible right now.
Netizens’ comments
- Just walk around raffles place mrt weekday lunch time if you wanna feel you’re not the only European.
- You’re just feeling overwhelmed from the sudden change in environment and not having your family and friends around, my friend. I can’t promise you that life’s gonna be a bed of roses over here, but you’re most definitely not alone as the expat population is very sizeable here. Brit food and booze is available easily as well, and if you’re a football fan you’ll be making friends (and “enemies”) in no time.
- Yeah I would say you are probably feeling shock from being “alone”. Humans are very tribal and it feels like you don’t have your own tribe around anymore.}
My advice is to go hang out at the downtown bars, there are many europeans living there. You can also get all your comforts from home at M&S.
But yeah the European expats are not fully integrated here, they live quite separate lives from the local Singaporeans. - Not exactly culture shock per se, but you may be experiencing some form of adjustment disorder. Rest assured that this can happen to anyone going through a big change.
- Hey, welcome to Singapore! Don’t feel terrible about crying, it’s probably a mixture of stress, culture shock, fatigue and the changes.
As with all changes, it takes time but it will get better. There are definitely different European communities around, maybe try to reach out in Facebook groups. Even if you are the only European amongst the locals, don’t worry! Feel free to reach out or ask if you need help and most people will generally help (Singaporeans don’t go out of their way to ask if you need help, but if you ask, most are very friendly and willing to help).