I arrived in Finland and “Proakatemia” almost three months ago. Before that, I joined online classes. Unfortunately, I missed important and initiating ‘paja’ sessions in January due to my arrival in Finland. I had so many things to prepare as I’m travelling with my family members.  I can remember I was so excited to meet my team members I’m going to a new country as well as Finland is recognized as providing and existing the best education system in the world. My excitement was plus as it is famous for being the country with the happiest people living.

At this moment my mentality became very strange. I don’t feel whether I am happy or sad. I feel scared without any reason. Sometimes it is a similar feeling of frustration. But I’m not sure whether it is frustration. For the moment I feel that I am a different individual. Maybe this topic I might have written differently way a few months ago.

When I was preparing to arrive in Finland, I hadn’t taken the Cultural difference scenario very seriously way. Actually, nobody said the things existing in Finland are easy. Also, I did research, read the articles, and listen to know people that already in Finland yes, basically I gathered a lot of information about Finland’s lifestyle. I had to consider these things intensively as I have small kids. On the other hand, I always want to make my other family members’ lives comfortable because not only for the legal obligation as I love them as much as I love myself. Certainly, I guessed that I had been preparing well for the lifestyle in Finland. That means I was mentally well-established and pretty enthusiastic to move here and know how it goes.

Dear friends, this is what you call the gap between philosophies and when you are getting to a realistic situation.

Now it is going to begin reality of the life as a foreigner in this country. It is human nature to seek a group as long as you feel comfy, relaxed and happy in switching to it. Likewise, I feel that I’m still stuck in my home country. I know studying abroad is a golden opportunity that someone is going to experience in a lifetime.  Nevertheless, I’m really missing myself who was inside me three months ago. I have to cry always with someone to get done my work. Sometimes I’m asking myself why you are bothering them all the time on the other hand I feel shy why all this still I’m like a baby.  Certainly, I’m on the learning curve in my life in Finland and the Proakatemia community. I’m asking for help as I don’t feel confident about myself doing that task. Bearing all these changes I’m going to involve the projects which are making money. With all this around I’m getting worried about whether my teammates imagine me as that I’m the freeloader in the team. Anybody can notice that I remain silent. But my inner thoughts are arguing and screaming. Can someone imagine how my mind is right now? When I was experiencing first snowing my feeling was wow this is amazing, it is snowing. Now I’m searching the weather forecast and notice if it is going to snow my mind says like “Oh my God it is again”. That all the excitement is no more with me. Although, I was eager to discover what has happened to me. I searched the internet, and I found some details which exactly describe my situation right now.

In nutshell, I’m in the phenomenon of Cultural Shock. If this is described further, I’m actually in the particular phase of cultural Shock.

Source: Travel Study Handbook in Institute for Global Studies, Updated in September, 2019

According to the above image, I have already passed the “Honeymoon” phase which I’m extremely positive and enthusiastic about the community, environment, language and weather, dreaming that I’m stepping new adventure, that period I assumed got an ultimate selection of my life. As the experts explain the honeymoon stage influence foreigners in two ways. If it is a short stay abroad “the honeymoon stage may last throughout the whole experience”. But if we going to stay abroad longer “The Honeymoon phase will sooner or later fade away”.

So, I have entered the hardest period of them all. I strongly believe this situation is not familiar to anyone unless that person has lived abroad for a long time. Yes, sometimes I’m getting frustrated for kind of small things like when I need to change my password for the “tuni” account it is asking for hundreds of authentications. I can’t deposit money from every branch of the bank. Sometimes it is impossible to find the local vegetables I used to have while I’m staying in Sri Lanka. If this happened to me in a different province of my own country I would be able to make things rapidly without hesitation as I know the basic conditions. Unfortunately, or fortunately the background is different. Sometimes I lost how to respond to some incidents. On many occasions, I thought about how It would be better if I had stayed in Finland and the Proakatemia community since last autumn. Being realistic I know that I can’t do the amendments to the past now.

Even though facts and things are ongoing this way I’m not ready to be defeated by them as this is a temporary phase of my life. I find out about the bold and courageous woman who was inside me sooner. Indeed, I’m proud of myself as I have the capability to evaluate my situation and at the same time, I’m getting stressed about how long it will take up to adopting to this situation. Certainly, I’m stepping forward to the phase of adjustment gradually. Indeed, I’ll make a new history, which Process would be a slow but solid basement for the future of myself and the Proakatemia Community.