According to internations.com, four stages of culture shock exist — the honeymoon period, uncertainty and doubt, adjustment, and adaptation. When traveling to a new country, prepare to feel all of it. 
1.) Let yourself be a tourist. 
Don’t be embarrassed to be enchanted by small details: how fragile the foreign cash feels in your hands, how British teenagers say “prinking” and not “pre-gaming,” how people drive on the opposite side of the road, how your living space is called an accommodation and not a dorm, how your roommates are called flatmates, how the mall is called a shopping centre…and even how “center” is spelled “centre” in British English.
Hold on to the grunginess of chicken shops, the fanciness of certain pubs and the unexplainable Britishness of seeing people read newspapers on red double-decker buses. Some of my favorite moments were hanging out with my peers after class, going to the town’s shopping centre, buying makeup and dresses and seeing people busking in the streets.
Look into free walking tours of the city, meet all of your teachers and advisors, listen to their advice for international students, and explore the museums, libraries and art galleries. Let yourself feel the honeymoon period. 
2.) Be true to yourself. 
The international students will clique up. If you’re already an introvert, don’t push yourself to be an extrovert all the time. If you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, look for similar communities abroad. If you have any niche interests, try to look for people with the same interests abroad. If you don’t like sports, don’t waste your money and energy going to sports games. If you are into things like fashion, music festivals and concerts, spend your time doing those things instead.
3.) Stand up for yourself when people insult your home.
In my experience, people I met who weren’t from America tended to categorize America in three separate groups — California, New York and the Bible Belt. Most people I met did not know where Louisiana was, and it made me feel small when people would talk badly about my home. 
If you meet someone from another country and they insult your home, stand up for yourself and realize that it’s not worth it to be friends with that person anyway. It’s worth the work to find people that don’t bring you down within the first conversation of meeting them. 
4.) Learn the different terminologies of countries and islands.
Different terminologies used abroad overwhelmed me at first. What helped me to become less overwhelmed was to learn the basic geography of where I was — “The British Isles” refers to the islands that are off the northwestern coast of Europe, according to Britannica. Within these islands, you have Great Britain and Ireland, the two largest islands. Great Britain is broken up into three countries — Scotland, England and Wales. Ireland is broken up into two countries — the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom is a sovereign country that comprises Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and smaller islands within the British Isles. 
5.) Keep a journal.
Write in a journal and record your thoughts and feelings. Keep this journal with you and keep it as important to you as your passport. And speaking of passports, make sure you don’t lose yours. Your passport is extremely important. 
Kathryn Craddock is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Patterson.