Be Open and Stay Curious with CulturaGo Courses

In a constantly changing world with an unpredictable nature, life can get overwhelming. This can be the case when traveling abroad and entering into a space that is the complete opposite of what you are used to. 

With so many technical aspects to think about such as: flight details, visas, study applications, moving homes or furniture, and changing time zones, you may not be thinking about the new culture you will be stepping into. With such a busy schedule, you may have neglected your cultural research and encountered some obstacles:

You haven’t had time to do any research. 

You have done some research but there are so many contradictory things online and finding what you are looking for is super time consuming. 

No one is answering your questions. 

Information is out of date and you find yourself scrolling through comments from 2012. 

You can only find general information about traveling abroad but nothing specific which meets your needs.

CulturaGo seeks to make your experience the best it can possibly be. With our cultural preparation courses, not only do we: save you time, provide you with accurate and updated information, answer your questions and produce content that is at once country-specific while catering to your unique identity, but we also give you access to it over and over again!

You are able to go back and revisit the valuable advice, tips, tricks and words of wisdom presented to you throughout the course. This way, you don’t have to worry about where you kept those links to those sites or articles you visited a while back. Instead, you can access your online CulturaGo cultural preparation course with the click of a button.

But what challenges?

If you’re wondering, “What are the challenges or things I need to think about before I travel abroad?”, here are a few that we address in our courses:

Communication. How you communicate with others is important, both verbally and physically. Language barriers are not the only form of communication that limit understanding.

Etiquette. You may not be rude, however, the manners and norms you value may differ in another culture and how you act in social and work settings could lead to awkward faux pas or miscommunication.

Making friends. This is a common struggle when entering into a new environment, and often overlooked. Finding friends can make your experience abroad that much better.   

So often we get stuck in our own understanding of things and are unaware of our ignorance, only to become aware once it's been thrown back in our face. This is why it is so important to be open to learning more and understanding others - a coincidental course wide theme we have discovered amongst our course contributors as well as a recurring comment from a variety of our course learners.

Make sure that you are open minded, don’t be afraid to ask questions and make sure that you’re listening and going back through the [course] to make sure that you are preparing yourself as much as you can. 

- Stevencia, Introduction to Korean Culture course learner  

Come in with an open mind. Realize that things you perceive, especially the negative, should be taken with a grain of salt, because you might not understand a particular situation or the reactions you got.

- Jeremy, from the US, teaching English in Japan  

Try to be in the moment as much as possible. Try to be present with the people, present with the culture, observe your surroundings. Be open to the change that’s coming.

- Arien, a past language studies student abroad in Spain  

To recap: in a constantly changing world, don’t get left behind. Stay curious about the places and people around you. Be open to learning more and embracing all new experiences to the fullest.