The Importance of Community in the process of Acculturation

Author: Ana Kraljic

Anyone who has ever moved to another country, no matter how long ago, has felt the loneliness that comes with it. Finding your place in a new environment, learning the culture, not knowing the language, not having your people with you - they are all struggles that expats must face in their journey towards something new.

Even when your reason for moving is clear (whether it is work, love, new opportunities, exploration, or autonomy), being in a new country is overwhelming. Setting up your life in an unknown place means starting all over again with your documentation, your connections, your hobbies… It can make you feel like you’re losing the ground beneath your feet, like you are lost and without an anchor. 

People who move to another country need to recontextualize and reconfigure the meaning of their culture, history, identity, and interpersonal relations and interactions to adapt to their new place of living. This is a process psychologists call acculturation (Aguilera, 2024; Arias et al., 2024), and it very often carries what we refer to as migratory grief (González-Calvo, 2005; the topic of migratory grief is a broad one, and we will explore it in more depth in another upcoming blog).

In an acculturation journey, one of the most fundamental things for expat wellbeing are protective factors: support networks, a sense of agency, sharing the experience with others, as well as institutional support (Aguilera, 2024; Arias et al., 2024).

For that reason, in this blog we are going to explore the importance of community as a protective factor in the process of acculturation, supported by psychological research, and specifically inspired by our experience at the International Citizen Days of Copenhagen, where the Growth Oasis team participated on the 19th and 20th of September 2025. We will explore the different ways in which community can help expats adapt to their destination, as well as all the resources and support that the International Days have offered to all of us.

Community and Information

When you are new in a country, the thing you tend to lack the most is information - no matter how much you’ve researched and learned before arriving, there are still a million other things you never even knew you needed to do, and have no idea how to do them.

• Administrative and Bureaucratic tasks: the lack of documents, paying taxes, registering at your new address - all of these processes create a sense of instability and stress for expats, especially in having to figure out what you need to do, and how to do it.

  
  

• Work: finding a job in a foreign country can be a daunting experience - the differences in communication, not knowing what to put on your CV, not knowing how to reach out or where to even start looking.

  
  

• Living and Lifestyle: Sometimes, much more important than taxes is the simple question: where do I even buy rain pants? (Personally, I would recommend thansen). Clothing stores, supermarkets, bars and restaurants, cafés, parks, implicit rules of traffic, etc., are all so very different from country to country. And it can become very overwhelming when you’re trying to change from everything you're used to to something completely new.

  
  

All of these things are very stressful and can make the process of acculturation much harder  (Aguilera, 2024; Arias et al., 2024; González-Calvo, 2005).

That is why having people who can help - showing you how and where, discovering things together, or simply lending an ear when we’re overwhelmed - can make the transition much smoother, and reduce the stress of the instability we can feel as expats.

Social Relationships and Understanding

Another thing that you have to get used to as an expat are the social relationships - people relate and socialise in vastly different ways depending on the culture. The difference in socialization styles, as well as the language and other cultural differences can make the process of acculturation so much harder (Aguilera, 2024; Arias et al., 2024; González-Calvo, 2005).

When you’re trying to meet new people and grow your community, you will, naturally, get into misunderstandings or awkward situations with the best intentions.

Learning about another culture’s quirks and ways is a long process, but it is also a very interesting one. Approaching it with an openness to make mistakes and exercising your curiosity helps, and this is much easier to do if you have other people who understand what you’re going through - either because they’ve already been through it, or they’re going through it at the same time as you are.

Culture and Traditions

Image by freepik

As mentioned previously, expats can easily feel unanchored - everything that we were used to is now very far away, and a completely different environment surrounds us. We might not have realised just how important our language, our culture, and our traditions were to us until we got separated from them. 

The loss of the bond with our cultural roots and the people who watched us grow up is one of the fundamental grievances that expats have to face. The family and friends, the food, the traditions and culture, the landscapes of our homeland, the language, and the contact with our cultural and ethnic group - they are all things we dearly miss when we’re in another country (Achotegui, 2000, 2012; González-Calvo, 2005).

Sometimes, the best we can do is can keep some of these traditions alive by ourselves, by making the food that reminds us of home, listening to our culture’s music, or honouring our family values, beliefs, and rituals (Aguilera, 2024; Arias et al., 2024).

But having a community that shares all of these traditions can help us feel like we carry a small corner of home with us. Being able to speak the same language, be understood in your ways, and celebrate holidays the way your family does - all of these things make us feel more at home.

On the other hand, having people from other cultures who are passionate about learning and experiencing new cultures can also be a great source of support, because they provide a space for you to express yourself on your own terms and share things that are dear to your heart.

Institutional Support and Community

Apart from the people in our social circle, another great and very important source of support are the institutions in our country of destination, not only on the bureaucratic and administrative level, but also in all the tools, resources, and opportunities they provide for expats in their day-to-day life. 

The Municipality of Copenhagen organised the International Citizen Days for this very reason. Through our participation, the Growth Oasis team provided the opportunity for support, growth, and direction for expats who might be feeling lost, confused, or overwhelmed. As expats ourselves, we created that fundamental space of understanding, for people to pause, reflect, and share their stories of struggle and strength, their emotions and thoughts. 

Similarly, the rest of the organisations and individuals that participated in this event provided information about bureaucracy, jobs and job-hunting, lifestyle, the social quirks of Danish culture as well as tips on how to engage with them. Additionally, they provided spaces and opportunities to meet like-minded people, engage with an array of different social activities, and share your own culture and traditions. 

The International Days addressed the majority of the needs and struggles of expats, and therefore provided support for internationals to start their journey with more security and direction, and find their own way towards creating their community in their new home.

Find your Anchors

Starting your life in a new country can be daunting and scary, but people can be our anchors. They can make us feel at home, make us feel understood, help us carry the weight of our emotions, or simply give advice and lend a hand in figuring out how to pay taxes or where to buy rain pants because you’re sick of getting wet whenever you’re biking. 

Whether it’s a native to the country, an experienced expat, or even an institution, community grounds us to where we are, helps us spread our roots and finally attach them to something solid. Because then we don’t feel alien anymore, we have our people in this new place, and that helps us understand that we, too, are part of it.

Image by ededchechine on Freepik

References:

Aguilera, D. F. B. (2024). Pérdida ambigua en la vivencia migratoria transnacional: un análisis fenomenológico interpretativo a través de lentes transoceánicos. Revista REDES, 1(49-50), 107-134.

Arias, N. A., Vergara, C. A. G., & Martínez, C. R. (2024). Salud mental de personas y familias inmigrantes. Implicaciones del duelo, desprotección, rechazo y estrés transnacional. Studi Emigrazione, 62(234), 284-305.

Achotegui, J. (2012). La crisis como factor agravante del síndrome de Ulises. (Síndrome del duelo migratorio extremo). Temas de Psicoanálisis, 1(3), 1-16. 

González Calvo., V. (2005). El duelo migratorio. Trabajo Social, (7), 77–97. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/tsocial/article/view/8477 

And if you want to learn more about Acculturation from a psychological perspective, feel free to check out this video: