The official term is 'rejection of host culture'. It comes after the 'honeymoon phase'.
When I taught at the American school, they brought in a social worker to talk with us about the natural transitions we would go through along with many of our students, and, more importantly, their parents. :) The problem, of course, with many of those families, is that they're only abroad for a couple of years. By the time they're happy and settled in the country, they're often transferred again.
Sounds like the good old US Foreign Service (my prospective employer many years ago--never been sure whether to be sorry or glad that didn't work out). Always make sure to limit their staff's stay in any particular country to about two years, to make sure they don't actually learn too much about or get too well adjusted to local culture. :rolleyes:
Hmmm. I lived in the UK for just over two years, and didn't go through anything quite that bad. I remember being really irritated at the fact that the sidewalks all rolled up at 5pm, being aggravated at some of the slang, and irked at some of the government's policies...but overall, I wasn't terribly affected by culture shock. I never ever hated it there.
I have a good friend who is living and teaching in Japan; I wish I had had that link to send to him a while back, so he'd know (a) he's not alone--it's not just him and (b) it will get better. I think he was finding it pretty aggravating and stressful for a while, though he's an amazingly positive person and dealt with a lot by just doing the "tomorrow is another day" thing. I think now he's through that and very happy (with most of the cultutral aspects--there are still things he'd like changed about how his job works...)
Of course, with a situation like his, there's the language barrier on top of everything else, which is not *totally* absent in the UK what with dialect and accent, but nothing like learning a actual whole new language. Mike, I know, thought he had a decent grasp of Japanese, and he certainly seemed to be fluent to me (could talk to and joke with visiting friends, etc.), but apparently it was nowhere near good enough to get by until he'd had more training in-country. His description of trying to convey to a shop clerk that he wanted to buy dishwashing detergent was hilarious. It was the vocabulary problem plus, of course, the cultural issue that a Japanese shop worker could never (a) admit that they couldn't understand what a customer, even a gaijin, was saying and (b) could *never* let a customer go away without what they came for.
I remember being really irritated at the fact that the sidewalks all rolled up at 5pm, being aggravated at some of the slang, and irked at some of the government's policies...but overall, I wasn't terribly affected by culture shock. I never ever hated it there.
I remember when I went to study in London in 1985, I was petrified. I'd been brought up to be an Anglophile, watched/read/listened to British culture--ancient and modern--all my life. And I was petrified that I was going to get there and discover that because of some mysterious unknown thing I hated it all.
I didn't, of course, but there were some things that took a little getting used to. Most of which had to do with living in a big city for the first time in my life (in a city at all, unless one counts summer visits to my grandmother in New Haven).
Sounds like you have a good bunch of friends &c., which makes almost any situtation easier, too. :-)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-09-29 05:47 am (UTC)When I taught at the American school, they brought in a social worker to talk with us about the natural transitions we would go through along with many of our students, and, more importantly, their parents. :) The problem, of course, with many of those families, is that they're only abroad for a couple of years. By the time they're happy and settled in the country, they're often transferred again.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-29 12:22 pm (UTC)Different strokes, perhaps?
Date: 2005-09-29 10:45 am (UTC)Re: Different strokes, perhaps?
Date: 2005-09-29 12:19 pm (UTC)Of course, with a situation like his, there's the language barrier on top of everything else, which is not *totally* absent in the UK what with dialect and accent, but nothing like learning a actual whole new language. Mike, I know, thought he had a decent grasp of Japanese, and he certainly seemed to be fluent to me (could talk to and joke with visiting friends, etc.), but apparently it was nowhere near good enough to get by until he'd had more training in-country. His description of trying to convey to a shop clerk that he wanted to buy dishwashing detergent was hilarious. It was the vocabulary problem plus, of course, the cultural issue that a Japanese shop worker could never (a) admit that they couldn't understand what a customer, even a gaijin, was saying and (b) could *never* let a customer go away without what they came for.
Re: Different strokes, perhaps?
Date: 2005-09-29 05:09 pm (UTC)Me too!
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Date: 2005-09-29 11:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-29 12:10 pm (UTC)I didn't, of course, but there were some things that took a little getting used to. Most of which had to do with living in a big city for the first time in my life (in a city at all, unless one counts summer visits to my grandmother in New Haven).
Sounds like you have a good bunch of friends &c., which makes almost any situtation easier, too. :-)