Recently I gave a student a reading lesson that included an article on culture shock. As I was preparing it, I was thinking about my own experience coming to Italy from the US.
Basically, the article states that there are 5 stages to culture shock. Stage 1 is basically the honeymoon stage, when everything’s new and exciting and an adventure. Yes, I remember it well.
The second stage of culture shock is much more difficult. The honeymoon is over and all the little problems and difficulties come crashing down. Due to language and/or cultural differences, all the little day-to-day problems, things we would normally deal with effortlessly in our own country, seem enormous and impossible to overcome. This is the time when some people may call it quits and move back “home”. Some people actually get physically ill. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with me. (Actually, I may have experienced more of this when I moved from the Northeast US to the South.) Seriously though, I think this is hardest when you are in a country where you need to learn a new language. I’m not the only one to mention that it seems like you lose your personality because you are not able to make jokes. Another thing that makes it difficult is that you don’t have the same cultural references. A lot of joking around includes cultural references to past TV shows, commercials, cartoons, historical figures and the like. Without the ability to rely on them, conversation can sometimes be halting – plus they have their own references that we don’t understand. Although I did learn that “What you talking about Willis” translates as “Che cavolo stai dicendo Willy”. (That reference may date me a little bit, though.)
If we make it through Stage 2, we’re in the home stretch and we move on to the third or “adjustment” stage. You feel more comfortable and able to tackle new challenges. Your sense of humor becomes stronger and you, yourself, feel stronger, having made it through the tough time. Things are still a struggle, but you no longer feel as if the obstacles are insurmountable.
Stage 4 is the “comfortable” stage. You are now at ease in your new home although you may still have some language difficulties, like I do. I’ll probably still be making masculine words feminine 20 years from now – much to the amusement of others, accompanied often by uproarious laughter and extreme embarassment for myself. (Hey at least I made someone laugh!) But, despite that, you feel at ease and able to deal with any difficulties that may arrive.
Personally, I think some of these stages can overlap. I know there are still days when I feel like I’m in Stage 2 – although they are very few and far between at this point, and most days I’m firmly in Stage 4.
But, you say, you mentioned 5 stages at the beginning. Correct! There is a Stage 5 and it’s called Reverse Culture Shock. That’s when you go back to your home country and feel uncomfortable. You’ve changed, things at “home” have changed, and you’re no longer comfortable and can’t wait to get back to your new “home”. I know I’m not comfortable with McDonald’s, give me a nice dish of pasta instead. Does that mean I’ve reached that stage yet?
Related posts:
- Water by another name Teaching Luigi English is important to me, so we’re using...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I had number 5 after 3 months! The others took longer. But I have another.
If you are the kind of person who thrives on challenge, once you’re past 4 you get restless and lazy. You need more variety of experience. With the dollar so low I can’t go out and buy it with trips to Paris or India, so I am thinking of stufying French. If that doesn’t eff up my Italian even more, don’t know what would.
Reply