You have landed. A hectic, crowded airport, full of people in a hurry, it’s hot, it’s noisy – and, it’s your new home. Your company has prepared you thoroughly: Online training, information about your new home, rules of behaviour and three days of intercultural training. You are prepared.
You step out of the airport, look around and, despite all your preparation, you get the feeling that something is wrong. And you are absolutely right.
Your subconscious is constantly analysing the information that is transmitted via your senses – that’s up to 11 million per second. If it recognizes a deviation from the normal, it sends us a signal. These signals are known to many as gut feelings. Fortunately, this process happens unconsciously.
You step out of the airport and the impressions of your new world flood in. However, these impressions are not analysed on the basis of what you have just learned, but on the basis of the information and experiences you have gathered over decades in your home country. The greater the differences, the more misleading the signals you receive. In other words: the new normal, your new home, is fundamentally different from what you are used to. Despite all your preparations and training, you still have no idea what your new normal is.
Take your time, absorb your new surroundings and learn. Make your new home to your home step by step.
