After viewing the Culture Shock video in class last week, I couldn't help but reflect on my own experiences traveling abroad and dealing with culture shock. The video discussed the challenges that come with living somewhere new, especially the first two weeks of living there. I could relate to this statement when thinking back to my first two weeks living in Prague. I remember feeling very lost and alone and unsure of myself. I was experiencing a new language, a new location, and a new culture. Tasks that used to be so simple at home, such as going to the supermarket, always seemed to be a lot more effort and tiring. The way people checked out after shopping was confusing to me and I always felt like the woman checking me out was yelling at me for doing something wrong. Instead of getting frustrated by the situation, I tried to understand the differences in culture and how I could adjust my ways to fit into the Czech culture more.
Something that stood out to me during the movie was how many of the students being interviewed talked about how much harder the schooling is in America. I can understand how this is absolutely a huge challenge for a student studying abroad here. When I was in Europe, I found that I only really needed to do my work at the end of the semester for finals. There was no homework or exams throughout the semester, rather just at the end of the term. This would be a huge challenge for someone to come to the US and have homework, projects, and exams each week!
Finally, I found the idea of flight vs. fight to resonate quite well with me. The person in the video described flight as “I will go home in X days” versus fight as “I will resist the urge to want to leave.” One of my friends studied abroad in Hong Kong last year. She was miserable the whole time and I think that is because she was unable to embrace the culture differences and was instead focused on counting down the days until she would be back in the US. I think this is negative mentality to have while living in another country. Whenever I would feel homesick abroad, I never thought about leaving. I embraced the cultural differences and enjoyed learning about a new country. To me, different does not equal wrong.
Comments