Culture Shock

Prompt: Consider CULTURE SHOCK in more detail. What have been your specific experiences or episodes of culture shock in the past week or two? What do these experiences tell you about YOU?

 

I looked up culture shock on Wikipedia, and here's what I found:

Culture shock refers to the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown culture such as one may encounter in a foreign country. It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not. 

The process of cultural adjustment, which is also known as the U-shaped curve of cultural adjustment, encompasses five distinct stages:

• Stage 1: The feeling of excitement and eagerness. This stage occurs before leaving to go to the new culture.
• Stage 2: The feeling that everything in the new culture is great. This stage occurs upon arrival to the new culture.
• Stage 3: The feeling of everything in the new culture is terrible.
• Stage 4: The feeling of adjustment. The stage where the visitor begins to feel comfortable and takes steps to become more familiar with the culture.
• Stage 5: The feeling that everything is fine. The stage where the visitor has adapted to the culture and in some ways is embracing it as their own.

I've definitely experienced culture shock in those stages. Before I left I was so excited to start my journey. I couldn't wait to leave home and be on my own again for a while. Stage 2 was what we went through while in Beijing. We were toured around amazing sites and fed at great food (all at no cost to us)! We didn't have a moment to breath and even feel homesick. We were lured into a false sense of security.

Our first day in Fuxin, we went to a huge store where the crowd was so big, we could barely get through with our baskets without bumping into someone or knocking things off the self. The same day, I had a crazy experience trying to get lunch. There was no place to sit, so we walked around for a long time trying to find a table. Then, when I tried to get something to eat, I found that I had to have a special card to pay - I couldn't use cash. Luckily, a nice girl offered to let me use her card and I paid her the cash. That's when I think the reality that we have to fend for ourselves without someone translating for us set in. Stage 3 started. I didn't like the smog, the cold, the hole-in-the-ground toilets, and the fact that I could understand NOTHING, both spoken and print. I didn't even like the teaching that much. I was so homesick that wouldn't accept Fuxin. Although I love to travel and experience new cultures, I've never done it without family. I realized I'm really on my own; all my family was so far away. If I was going to not just make it, but make this a positive experience, I would have to work hard.

Right now, I think I'm starting Stage 4. I'm beginning to adjust to my new life here. I've gone out of my comfort zone to try socializing more with the teachers at my school. Us UMSL students go out, walk around outside, and try different foods. We've discovered an amazing market that sells vegetables for cheap - we even have a vegetable lady that we always go to! I'm learning a little more Chinese. The cab driver understood me when I said the name of my dorm. I've open myself to the differences that I see, and accepting them rather than wishing I was home. I definitely don't feel completely at home, but I think I'm taking the right steps to get there.