Culture Shock

Me, after 3 hours in Argie

I was emailed an article about Culture Shock. How useful, 18 months in... But I thought I should give the run down anyway. My thoughts following the theory. The amount of people being paid to state the obvious, I tell you...

1. The Euphoric Stage (or Honeymoon Period)
When a person arrives in a new country the first stage that they will go through is the euphoric stage. At this stage everything about the new culture will delight and amuse the new arrival. The country of origin will be constantly compared in disparaging terms. This honeymoon period commonly lasts from three to six months, but for some people it can last up to a year.

My thoughts: Any euphoria lasted 3-6 hours. I was not delighted my flight took 44 hours, nor that I did not have a timetable a week before the year started, and I was not amused when it came in at 31 hours a week (9 more than any other member of staff), nor the rain nor the mosquitoes. Oh I've been bitten again, how delightful. How amusing, that bus only narrowly failed to kill me as I crossed the road. What larks. Let's celebrate the differences.

The Hostile Stage
After the first stage, new immigrants will be shocked to find themselves becoming antagonistic to everything about the host culture. This hostile stage is characterised by depression and aggression towards the previously revered hosts. Cultural differences will no longer be celebrated, but seen as a source of conflict.

My thoughts: Don't get it, I guess this was Stage 1. But then I find everyone antagonising and hostile. If anything I arrived in this state of mind ('arrived' into the world or into the country I don't know), then got me some Honeymoon Stage.

The Acceptance Stage
The third stage is the acceptance stage. In this stage a kind of equilibrium is reached where the immigrant learns to accept the differences between their host culture and their home culture and to celebrate those differences where appropriate. Parts of the host culture will become part of the immigrants everyday life.

My thoughts: Like an Indian in England drinking tea and eating a curry? Ah... Me, I intent to continue the cultural norm of kissing every one I come into contact with, and the pretty ones twice. If accused of anything untoward, I shall claim that my kissee is suffering from a sense of cultural imperialism, and it’s perfectly normal where I have come from. Oh, by the way the above is resignation, not acceptance.

Reverse Culture Shock Stage
Finally, in the vast majority of cases the immigrant will return to their own country. Once there the fourth, and most unexpected, stage occurs and this is referred to as the reverse culture shock stage. Upon arriving back, the returning resident will be eager to share their experiences of another culture that have made them a different person. However, they have returned to a group of people, and indeed a country, that has changed in the interim.

My thoughts:
It's not that the country has 'changed', it's just that everyone thinks you are behaving like a pretentious tool, mostly based on the fact that you are:
a) sporting ridiculous facial hair
b) behaving like a pretentious tool
c) affecting a foreign accent
d) holding a digeridoo
e) wearing a poncho
f) constantly referring to how things are done by the Wah-chi-chi tribe, who are so friendly by the way
g) all of the above.

My advice for cultural assimilation? Laugh when everyone else laughs. That's it, and that's all.

Paris, full on Stage 1