Cultural Swings
If you’ve ever lived in another country for an extended period of time (ha… I’m saying extended and I’ve been here, what? 6 full weeks?)… Anyways, you might understand what I am going though. If you haven’t, let me give you just a peak of cultural adjustment:
One day I absolutely love it here and want to absorb as much as possible from the culture and language. Other days my brain truly feels restrained as if it were in a really tight straight jacket, and sometimes I feel like I’m crazy enough to be in one myself. The swings have instead the come in other time spans as moods throughout my day, instead of the full day. I can be depressed without a clear reason why, yet a few hours later mediocre or back on top of the world. (Is this cultural shock or cultural bi-polarism?) I have seen a lot of what I have experienced so far as an adventure, and recently (because I can’t always predict what kind of mood I am going to be in during the day) my moods each day have become an adventure in and of themselves. Another description of cultural adjustment that I used in my last prayer letter was that I swallowed an emotional parasite.
I think that a lot of this is related to learning the language and the current frustration with not being able to communicate well or understand a lot. I hear a few words and assume something, then find out I was completely wrong. Almost like when I was 8 and my parents were continually telling me that I was not listening.
I have taken to giving myself “English breaks” where I read books (currently on The Allure of Hope which I highly recommend to you ladies!) or listen to music on my IPOD. The funny part of a lot of this is that lately in my attempt to communicate, when I speak in Spanish a few English words will just pop out, or if I am on the phone to someone back home speaking in English, a Spanish word will jump out of my mouth. No, I haven’t dreamt in Spanish yet, and if I did, I can guarantee that I wouldn’t understand it all. I promise, once I do dream in Spanish, it will be on this blog site!
One day I absolutely love it here and want to absorb as much as possible from the culture and language. Other days my brain truly feels restrained as if it were in a really tight straight jacket, and sometimes I feel like I’m crazy enough to be in one myself. The swings have instead the come in other time spans as moods throughout my day, instead of the full day. I can be depressed without a clear reason why, yet a few hours later mediocre or back on top of the world. (Is this cultural shock or cultural bi-polarism?) I have seen a lot of what I have experienced so far as an adventure, and recently (because I can’t always predict what kind of mood I am going to be in during the day) my moods each day have become an adventure in and of themselves. Another description of cultural adjustment that I used in my last prayer letter was that I swallowed an emotional parasite.
I think that a lot of this is related to learning the language and the current frustration with not being able to communicate well or understand a lot. I hear a few words and assume something, then find out I was completely wrong. Almost like when I was 8 and my parents were continually telling me that I was not listening.
I have taken to giving myself “English breaks” where I read books (currently on The Allure of Hope which I highly recommend to you ladies!) or listen to music on my IPOD. The funny part of a lot of this is that lately in my attempt to communicate, when I speak in Spanish a few English words will just pop out, or if I am on the phone to someone back home speaking in English, a Spanish word will jump out of my mouth. No, I haven’t dreamt in Spanish yet, and if I did, I can guarantee that I wouldn’t understand it all. I promise, once I do dream in Spanish, it will be on this blog site!
posted by Becca @ 6:16 PM
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