Culture Shock Experiences

SuperMoniMonk

I have been In El Salvador for 6 weeks now . There is hugo Volcano right in from of the house where I'm staying ..and the food is great ..It's been fun but I'm getting a little antsy. I will be here for at least 6 more months and I know that I need to make the most of it . Yet the times when I get bored , I start thinking about my favorites things back in the US..the food..of course, the people , the roads ..lol I read on Culture shock and have prepared myself to the down times..

I thought some of you guys might have some interesting stories about your overseas adventure ..you may want to share

BobbyDaniel

I spent 3 months in Zimbabwe when I was in college and experienced more culture shock coming home than I had overseas.

KarmaxKitty

We spent a lot of time in Germany when I was younger and it wasn't really culture shock for me but... It's okay to be naked at showers and stuff. Like at pools in the locker rooms? Nobody batted an eye. I just accepted it cause nobody else in the locker room was freaking out. But the leaders of the afterschool program were schocked speechless. :laugh:

i_love_vinegar

i studied abroad in chile in high school, and am in japan for college now. everywhere feels the same to me *_*

unfortunately i dont get shocked too easily, but one thing i found funny in japan was that when i went to the zoo, they would have kangaroos for instance behind a rope 1 inch off the ground...then they would have a gate that people would open to see them...
the animals would not walk over the rope, and just hung out. The gates did not close on their own and had signs reading, "Please close the gates behind you so the animals dont escape" haha. They also had signs such as, "Please do not steal the animals" xD

karenjoy

When I first went to America I was horrified by the massive portions of food, the lack of healthy food and the weird taste of bread, cheese and chocolate. I also found people to be over familiar at first, but realised they were being friendly. I found the big houses and wide roads a shock, the size of the cars and just about everything to be honest. I also found the language and accents quite hard too.

gashinshotan

Sitting alone in a room full of Syrian Arabs smoking cigarettes at 12 am - they didn't know any English, I knew very little Arabic - hilarity! Very nice people -even the AK-47-toting soldiers that are currently shooting civilians were hospitable to tourists (one forced a guy to drive us a mile to a bus station but then again the guy wouldn't take our money so shows he didn't mind too much!).

mikey1976

i guess this counts
i have heard of all the gangs i was afraid of african americans just because of shows like cops and amaicas most wanted and the usa news. it was just the nagtive stuff put out there. so when i traveled from a small resort town in bc canada to the seattle and then out to noth carolina by gray hound bus. the first shock was see the dumps that people live in montana. these place didn't look like they could be lived in. then chicago. entering the city see the big stadums and the ghetto this big high rise apartment building that are so close together with what i suspect to be little apartments. then the bus depole so many people it was crazy. then the bus out of their not even a block away you see drug dealing going on and there was a hooker who i remeber she looked beat up and druged out sitting against the wall. my next stop i phoned home in tears because i have never felt so bad and helpless. but yeah it was the longest two weeks of my life being away from home. i missed the mountains so much that and it was to hot out there. you have to know i was only 22 at the time never been to the stats. at no time did anyone do anything to me it was more of the head games that scared me. i met so many amazing people on my trip one guy who was heading to the military base when i told him i was canadian he said i was the first canadian he had met. in all it was educational and i learned that all the thing on tv doesn't do justice for all the good people out there. so make short i don't believe in everything i see on tv or in the news papers or even the net. i have a much more open mind

WifeNMama

Before going to Brazil, my group was told that women greet each other with hugs and kisses, sometimes up to two or three kisses on both cheeks. So when we got there, we were sort of nervous about who to kiss and when (first intro or second time you've met up? Etc.) I felt very much like an outsider because they all knew we were foreign and didn't kiss each other like they did, so out of respect, they didn't kiss us.
Then one day, one of the gals came running up and planted a couple of kisses, and I thought, "ok, progress, we're officially accepted"
The entire thing was so bizarre, and after six weeks of greeting everyone with a kiss, it took all of my self control not to kiss people when I got back to Canada. And after not understanding anyone for six weeks, I was unbelievably annoyed at overhearing everyone's conversations on cell phones, etc. I got headaches the first few days at home. :-P

Hayesgang

I was lucky enough to live in Italy for almost 5 years and I loved it.
Here are just a few of the things that we had to adjust to:

*Everything closed for 2 hours (between 12-2pm) for lunch
*There is no speed limit (they have one posted but if you drive it you'll get run over), flashing your lights to pass isn't rude, you better be driving at least 85 - 90mph in the fast lane, it there is a sudden stop people put on their hazards to warn drivers behind them. No semi's allowed on the road Sundays. They have round-abouts - cuts down on street lights.
God - I miss driving in Europe!!
*The fridges are tiny - they shop daily for food.
*Public transportation is simple to use and clean.
*When there is going to be a strike - they let you know before hand.
*Dinner is a minimum of 2 hours, even if it's just pizza.
*Gas stations have gourmet food.
*The month of August everyone goes on vacation and everything is shut down (except grocery store a few gas stations)
*You don't pump your own gas
*No one cares what they wear at the beach - you don't need to be stick thin to wear a bikini or a speedo - not alot of body issues, it was liberating
*Everyone get 1 month vacation (you don't have to work at a company for x amount of time - you start with 30 days), Everyone has health/dental care.
*There really isn't a drinking age and you don't see alot of drunk people or DUI's
*People aren't loud - restaurants can be packed and it's still peaceful.
*They don't have huge malls or big box store.

It was more of a culture shock moving back - it is so loud everywhere you go and common courtesy almost seems non-existent.

dalgirly

I've traveled quite a bit in my life. And honestly, Africa was by far the craziest thing.

Being a white and fairly thick girl (I'm not fat fat, but I'm solid) it was definitely scary at times. Guys frequently pulled me down alley ways telling me to marry them. Which was weird to me. Also, I had someone mug me once.

But on the funny side of things, I went to climb a mountain -- and one of the African's goes to me "You are too fat to climb". I just laughed and said I'll be fine. I made it up and down, carrying my own gear.

It was definitely a shock, and the way they did things was far different than even south america.

It was nice to come home.

SuperMoniMonk

I have enjoyed all your stories so much !

It's a small wide world ! I find that people here are a bit straight forward when asking questions , I get a litte uncomfortable..I'm not used to people being so expressive.
We went to a burger joint and the service was very pleasant .
* I got robbed in a bus ..had to give the guy $ 15 bucks so he would leave me alone...it was scary .
* everything goes when driving , People pimp buses over here lol . I was laughing at that earlier.
* They dont flash the toilet tissue down, it has to be nicely folded and place in a bin next to the bowl. I dont really like that
I secretly flush it ..lol
* No hot Water
There is a Wendy's and Starbucks, Burger King ..Mcdonals and KFC of course..Only been to Wendy's and it tastes better than the one in the States.

* even though I was born here people can tell I have not been around bc of my accent and the color of my skin. They say they can tell I have been out of the sun and in air conditioned areas ..lol
* Veggies and eggs tastes so good since they are organic...localy grown most of them.

thanks for sharing your stories !