How to Feel at Home Or Settle Down in Your New Home After Moving
Change of environment is one activity most people are bound to engage in at some point in their life time and the reasons are not far-fetched considering the quest to aspire for better opportunities by the individual. Depending on the level of preparation by the individual to accept this change, there is always bound to be some form of cultural shock that come with such a transformation.
Having spent a major part of my working career in the city of Los Angeles, I now had to move on to the city of Huston following a job offer from a petroleum refinery in that city which I find very promising. Irrespective of the fact that I had made several trips to that city before my relocation and was acquainted with the working operations of that industry I still find it difficult coming to terms with certain realities on ground in my new environment.
Much as I have my own experiences to contend with, my wife and the kids are definitely not finding it any easier because it is an entirely different terrain and they are barely learning to find there way around not to talk less of coping with the city’s complex activities.
As a way of breaking down socio-cultural barriers it is necessary to create an aura of familiarity around everything you do or relate with because it helps you build comfort zones which you can start identifying with. In your comfort zone, you find confidence and assurance which in turn makes the process of settling down for you easier. In employing this strategy you must acquaint yourself with landmarks, associate with your neighbors, and remain accessible in order to be recognized in your environment so that you will feel at home. From this approach, people will naturally feel friendly towards you and try to help you blend in when you have to resort to asking for assistance concerning areas or things that you are not conversant with.
Other measures to employ when trying to feel at home in your new home includes finding a place of interest where you could always fall back on to share your quiet times at depending on your interest or belief structure. You could decide on a church, mosque, park, or restaurant as a place of recluse where you could always go to in order to ease of tension when under pressure and need to unwind.
Just in the same way you need comfort zones, you need to be aware of danger zones in your new environment in order to keep from harms way in the course of your daily activities. Apart from physical locations that are crime prone or hazard potential areas it is also necessary to learn about timing and certain attitudes in the environment which might spell danger and need to be avoided.
Above all, it is important to seek knowledge at all times in an unfamiliar environment in order to keep safe and also to enjoy a harmonious relationship in your new environment. Asides published books, which dwell on the topic of feeling at home any where in the world the internet is also a veritable tool to source for information.
