Culture Shock Pada Mahasiswa Asal Riau di Surakarta

Culture shock is commonly experienced by a migrant (a person who come to a new place or area from one region to other region in Indonesia to study or work) or “perantau” in Indonesian culture, as a form of reaction to the missing part or all of the signs in the culture in which he/she involved. It happens when a person enters a new place or area with different culture and thus habits, customs, norms, and values that has been experienced cannot be applied in the new place. This phenomenon happens to the students who come from Riau to study in Surakarta in which they feel anxious, frustrated, and afraid to interact because of the culture differences between Riau and Surakarta. This study aims at investigating how the students overcome their difficulties related to the culture shock they have experienced. This study employs descriptive qualitative approach by conducting deep interview to four students from Riau who study in Surakarta which consist of two first-year students and two final-year students, this study also using intercultural communication and culture shock theory. The findings revealed that there are four main problems that triggered culture shock to the students from Riau they are weather, food, language, and character. Regarding to the problems, the participants found various solution. Finally, this study concluded that the students from Riau have succeeded in dealing with their culture shock or at least minimalizing the effect of culture shock by going through some aspects: friendship, culture understanding, emotion, and time