My biggest culture shock, and watching the Culture shock video, was the language and this was partly due to Richmond creating somewhat unrealistic expectations about the language dynamic abroad. They told me it would be equally shared between English and Czech, but this was certainly not the case. It was also a shock of how fast people spoke. Obviously, native language speakers speak at a much fast pace than learners, but the speed of some of the phrases was almost incomprehensible. One phrase is: Hodi se ti to (is that ok?) People say it so fast that it seemed like one word when I first heard it. Other culture shocks were the reserved nature of the people and length of time it got to know each other. I felt like I got close to Czech people after several months unlike America where we make friends very fast.
However, the biggest culture shocks I have had were when I come back from abroad. The people, the social interactions, the lack of excitement all accumulated to me struggling to transition back into American culture. I think I am used it now, but I know that without a solid support system and a new change in attitude, I would not be able to feel as comfortable as I am now. One thing I do miss is being able to talk to people in a different language; I do wish there were more Czech people in Richmond
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