1. HONEYMOON stage: Everything seems great, but it doesn't last forever.

2. FRUSTRATION stage: You start to feel negative about the new culture and
everything about your own culture, which right now is very far away, seems
wonderful.

3. DEPRESSION OR DISTRESS stage: Some people have strong feelings of

sadness or loneliness, even anger, or they don't sleep well. Some actually experience
physical symptoms such as headaches.

4. ACCEPTANCE stage: You have learned to appreciate the differences from your
own culture and to find your own place in the culture you are living in.

A. After a couple of months, things seemed to change for me. The London weather
started to really get to me. It seemed like it was cold and rainy all the time. For
someone like me from Turkey, where it's warm and sunny, well, I felt like a fish out
of water. It was hard to take. And I was finding it difficult to make friends. British
people seemed a bit cold to me, which is very different from the way people act in
my country. The food was also a problem. I got really tired of it and dreamt of the
food back home. Thank goodness. There are some good Turkish restaurants in
London.

B. After a while, everything about London began to really get to me. It was bad
enough that Londoners seemed so formal all the time. But even worse, they were
constantly apologizing, always saying “Sorry!”. It really seemed insincere to me.
And it got on my nerves. I felt really homesick. I missed my family and friends
back home so I would call them and complain about my life in London. I also just
felt sad a lot of the time though. I wasn't really sure why. It was actually affecting
my studies. I still had over a year to go. And I really wondered at that time, if
maybe my decision to come here had been a mistake.

C. It took about a year for me to get my feet back on the ground again. But by that
time I had gotten used to the weather. I learned that it's all about dressing, right?
And crossing the streets was a piece of cake by then. You just have to remember
to look both ways. But most importantly, I made friends in my classes – both Brits
and other foreigners like me. What a difference that made! I started to feel like I
had a place where I belonged and I was really able to appreciate some of the
things that made British and Turkish culture different. I still prefer Turkish food, but
I've come to appreciate what they've called a full English breakfast. My cousin
Ahmet is coming to visit next week. And I'm looking forward to showing him
around my adopted city.

D. I was really excited to be in London. It had long been a dream of mine to study
here and it had finally come through. I mean, this is such a famous place. There
were so many things to do and people were really nice. I just felt like I was in
heaven. Everything was interesting to me, even ridiculous things like counting out
money when I had to pay for things. I felt like a kid. I had to ask for help all the
time, because I couldn't tell the coins apart. And the most disorienting thing was
the traffic. In Turkey, we drive on the right, but as everyone knows, drivers in
London drive on the left. So I had to be extra careful when I crossed the street, but
it was all fun and new. I really loved being here.