Stage four: Surface-level adjustment

Hopefully, you’ve been able to push through the homesickness phase. You now start to feel more at home in your WHV country. You’re a long way away from being a local and you don’t necessarily understand everything, but you do understand the culture a little better now. Gradually, you start to feel positive again and regain some confidence.

At this stage, your social life is probably richer. You start making bonds with other people and have more positive interactions overall. You probably feel more neutral towards the differences in culture: one is not necessarily better than the other; they are just different in their own ways.

Possible emotions you might experience during the surface-level adjustment phase

• Satisfaction
• Ease
• Self-confidence
• Opening up
• Empathy

Examples

“I can finally use public transport without relying on Google Maps.”

“I know which supermarkets are the best place to get my favourite products from.”

“I’ve found a local coffee shop that I can work from regularly.”

What you can do to manage your emotions during surface-level adjustment

At this stage, it’s important to keep going! You have the basics locked down but don’t get too comfortable with the surface-level adjustments you have made to fit in. You could still learn more about your WHV country and experience life there on a deeper level. Now is the time to keep up with your integration: the friendship building, trying new hobbies, exploring things to do in your area, etc.