When first arriving abroad, many people have trouble adjusting.
Tips
history
From 《三国志·吴志·周瑜传》: 不习水土，必生疾病 — those unused to the local water and soil will surely fall sick. Originally literal (travelers got stomach trouble from unfamiliar water), the idiom now freely extends to cultural, business, or institutional mismatch.
usage
Two uses: (1) literal — a newcomer has digestive or health trouble in a new region; (2) figurative — a foreign product, idea, or system fails to adapt to local conditions. The figurative use is very common in business and policy writing.
