Expats
Keys to beating holiday stress
By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-16 09:46
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The holidays usually mean a barrage of stress for most expatriates. Shopping for presents, planning gatherings and sending Christmas cards along with the strain of everyday life can deflate the cheer out of the holiday season.
For 25-year-old Australian Sally Victoria Benson, the most stressful part of the holiday season is being away from family and friends.
"I'm trying to get parcels home to Australia, I'm trying to work out what my family wants and what I'm going to do," she said, adding that the cold weather doesn't help.
She said that when celebrating Christmas at home she doesn't have to worry as much because her family helps shoulder the burden.
"Here I have to worry about things like what I'm going to do for Christmas, whether or not I'm going to get a Christmas tree, and what to buy as gifts," she said. "At home my mother takes care of most of that."
This stress is multiplied for expats living overseas who, along with regular stresses of the seasons, must learn to cope with the holiday in a foreign environment.
"During Christmas time we put pressure on ourselves to have fun and satisfy everyone else's expectations," said Dr Albert Chambers, a family therapist at the Beijing United Hospital.
"The stress may not even happen when you first move to a new country, it can take as long as three years to set in."
Even when removed from a stressful situation, he said, the stress can continue.
"Stress can stay at higher levels even after the situation that caused the stress has changed," he said.
Living abroad in unfamiliar surroundings puts a lot of pressure on expats, but there are ways for them to cope. Chambers also emphasizes that stress is a natural, normal and important aspect of human nature.
"It activates our bodies and minds, similar to how adrenaline works, helping humans focus when the situation calls for it," he said.
The best way to reduce anxiety in a stressful situation is by simply taking a deep breath, relaxing your body and focusing your eyes. In addition to taking a moment to clear the mind, heavy exercise and engaging in social situations are often useful methods for eliminating stress, said Dr Chambers.
It's this combination of exercise and clearing the mind that helps American Jon McLeod cleanse himself of daily stresses.
McLeod works as an English teacher at an international school during the day and runs the Circle of Iron martial arts school by night.
For him the everyday stress of being in a crowded city, something the Californian is not used to, is dispelled through the discipline and deep thought involved with martial arts training.
"You stress out all day and you carry that stress in your muscles, but martial arts helps stretch out your muscle and release all your tension," he said.
Before each class, he instructs students on how to clear their minds through meditation.
"We try to think about nothing at all," he said. "For most people it works really well."
Though physical exercise is one of the most commonly subscribed ways of fending off stress, German Claudia Berkowski says exploring a new realm of Beijing and reconnecting with her affection for China is what gets her by when she is feeling overwhelmed.
"I like to do something new, like go to a new restaurant or bar," she said. "Either that or I do something Chinese, such as go to a teahouse, to help remind me why I'm in China."
