Cultural and Language Orientation

Perfect for study abroad, extended travel, or fellowship programs!

Picture this: you've just stepped off of the plane in Thailand, ready to start the most exciting and terrifying time of your life. You've committed to spending an extended period of time far from home, you don't know more than a word or two of the strange-sounding language, and in less than an hour you'll be introduced to your host family, with whom you'll be living for the next two months. As you step out of the airport, you gawk at a man on the curb selling grilled pig intestines out of a cart, until you are almost flattened by a motorbike carrying an entire family of five.

"Culture shock" is a term that is bandied about to refer to the initial disbelief, horror, and amusement that people experience when they travel to places superficially unlike their home. However, those of us who have spent a long time abroad know that culture shock only begins once the initial disbelief, horror, and amusement have worn off: true culture shock is defined by the lonliness experienced when you feel that you cannot truly connect to anyone in your new surroundings; it is the frustration you feel at the "backwards" way "these people" drive, eat, or form lines at the bus station; and it is the innate urge to seek out a 7-Eleven and a bag of Lays potato chips every once in a while.

A truly successful term abroad isn't about assimilating with the local culture and forgetting about where you came from - it is about coming to terms with the way that you react to your surroundings, recognizing the obstacles that are preventing you from embracing the foreign perspective, and choosing discomfort and unfamiliarity as a way to continually grow. Living in a foreign country presents an incredible opportunity to learn not only about others, but about yourself. But in order to take advantage of that opportunity, you must make the choice to engage, rather than withdraw, when things get difficult.

Staff at CMRCA are Thai nationals and foreigners who have experience travelling, living abroad, and facilitating others' experience in a new environment. Our staff have worked as group leaders for Colorodo-based Where There Be Dragons, Outward Bound Professionals, and the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute, facilitating cross-cultural interactions and understanding. We believe that having a successful experience abroad is as simple as answering the question, "What kind of an experience do you want to create?"

CMRCA runs one-day to one-week seminars, workshops, and programs to help prepare incoming students or travellers of any age for the challenges they will face when trying to create the experience of a lifetime. Cultural programs can be combined with leadership and adventure activites and language instruction for a wholistic introduction that will give you the tools you need to create the best time abroad that you could ever ask for. Contact us to tailor a program that is perfect for you!

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