Cultura

The 4 Stages of Culture Shock

Culture shock. You’re lost, standing baffled in new surroundings with a heavy pack on your shoulders, unable to tell left from right, up from down, phone booths from trash cans or ripoff artists from friends.
But this image of sudden shock isn’t quite accurate.
In reality, culture shock is a much more nuanced phenomenon that can take months to develop andovercome. Culture shock will flip your emotions topsy-turvy. It will affect you in completely unexpected ways.
More than simply being surprised at unfamiliar social norms, weird new food or foreign modes of conversation, culture shock will impact you long after you become familiar and comfortable with the day-to-day customs of a new culture.
Culture shock tends to move through four differentphases: wonder, frustration, depression and acceptance.
Of course, like all things that happen in our complicated little brains, it’s never really that simple or easy. Each of these stages take time to run their course, and how deeply one affects you is never set in stone. Even the order of these 4 stages can be unpredictable.
Jet-Lag and Wonder
The first stage of culture shock is often overwhelminglypositive and far from bewildering. This is often called the “honeymoon phase” – when you’re so fascinated with the language, the people and the food that the trip seems like the greatest thing you’ve ever done. You’re having an adventure!
The first stage of culture shock is often overwhelmingly positive and far from bewildering.
On shorter trips this honeymoon period can be a huge boon, as therush of foreign stimulation makes a vacation all the better, and having a set return date can ward off the less enjoyable aspects of culture shock.
Anyone who’s visited another continent has felt this rush of excitement the minute they got off the plane, and will no doubt never forget it.
Guidebooks about Southeast Asia play on this fairly often, inevitably starting with a vivid description ofBangkok – the overwhelming smell of fish sauce, the muggy tropical air, the traffic straight out of hell – all things that contribute to the sense of having touched down on another planet.
Settling In…To Frustration?!
This is a difficult stage of culture shock, familiar to anyone who has lived abroad or traveled for a long time. You don’t understand gestures. You get laughed at, you horribly offenda little old lady without knowing why.
The usual response is anger. Culture shock is like walking out the door, being greeted by a neighbor and wanting nothing more than to shout obscenities at them.
It is a visceral reaction that permeates every part of the experience, from misunderstanding shopkeepers, to losing your keys or missing the bus. Frustration comes and goes, disillusion comes onlike a monsoon and the pangs of homesickness can become debilitating.
The first time I went to Asia I got it bad. After a month and a half of backpacking and two months teaching in Saigon, I was ready to go home.
The city began to weigh on me in ways I couldn’t have forseen. Struggling against the smog and noise felt like trying to keep my head above water while wearing lead boots. The food, thepeople, the language – nothing was exotic anymore. I just wanted a hamburger.
Depression: Feeling Stuck
We’ve all felt a little down before, but rarely when we’re so far from home.
Depression on the road is a feeling of hopelessness and longing, like nothing will ever be OK again until you hop on that plane home.
The worst part about this brand of moping is that it’s difficult to see the linkto culture shock – the feeling can sometimes seems disconnected from travel, and often even homesickness. It can take the form of simple, implacable malaise.
It’s hard to be so far away, especially if you’re all by yourself. Frustration can bring on homesickness, but depression adds the dimension of feeling like you just have to get out.
Acceptance: Home Away From Home
After weeks and months...