Expatriation

For our studies, we consider an expatriate someone who leaves his/her own country by their own will to go to work to another country sent by their company which requests that skilled labour to perform abroad, whether it is for a short or a long period of time.

The Cultural Shock

It is a process of adaptation that expatriates go through when they start to settle down into their new home. It involves getting along with new customs, making new friends and getting used to the new landscape. During this process it is very possible that the person might experience feelings of fear, angriness and disorientation.

In general, there are four phases when going through this cultural shock:

1. The Honeymoon. Is period of time where everything looks perfect and like it was going to last forever. "The new culture seems exotic and stimulating (Pustay/Griffin 1996 p.699)
2. Disillusionment. They start to realise that what it was thought to be perfect is actually not, and people start to see the complete opposite scenario.
3. Adaptation. The expatriate begins to understand patterns of the new culture and starts to adapt them to the everyday living.
4. Biculturalism. Total adaptation to the environment

Since this is not an easy process, the expatriate must feel like this whole sacrifice will be rewarded somehow or that at least they will get to keep the same standard of living they used to have. The sending company has to make sure that those living expenses will be covered.

Repatriation

Takes place when the no longer expatriates return to the home country. It is expected that they experience something similar to a cultural shock when they realise that what thought was going to be the same has completely changed after they left. Relationships, colleagues, etc. that finally makes the process of coming back home harder.