It didn't take long for me to begin experiencing the symptoms of culture shock. I knew I was in culture shock when I felt myself being negative about everything around me. Last year, on my first trip here, it took me almost a month to begin getting negative. At that time I just loved everything about Buenos Aires and didn't see any of the problems.
This time I started to see the problems right away - the pollution, dirty streets, too many people, problems communicating, etc. I think it is good to know that what I am experiencing is culture shock. Now that I know what is happening to me, I can try to find ways to make myself feel better.
Culture shock is a sign of growth. It means that I am out of my zone of comfort and in a situation where I am unfamiliar, and need to find a way to adjust and therefore, grow. Because I have problems understanding what the cashiers at the supermarket say to me, I am afraid to go to the supermarket. But today when I went to the supermarket and the cashier said something I didn't understand and had to point to show me he was asking if I wanted a bag, I realized what I can do the next time. My Spanish is good enough that I can tell people I don't understand and ask them to explain things to me. When I have done that, people have been very nice. When the cashier said something that I didn't understand, after I understood what he was asking, I should have asked him, "what did you say to me?" so that the next time I WOULD understand. I realized that part of my problem is that I want to fit in here, but by trying to fit in I am afraid to let people know that I am not a native Spanish speaker. That is stupid. I should let them know that I am trying to learn. I think they will be more impressed with that than by someone pretending to speak Spanish when they don't really.
So from now on I am going to try this new strategy of asking people to repeat things so that I can learn them. I need to get a little notebook that I can carry with me so I can take it to places like the produce market and write down the names of fruit and vegetables that I learn. I could ask my Spanish teacher to teach me things, but it is better in this case if I just take advantage of the many natural language learning situations that I can find on the street.
So for now, my culture shock is at a medium level. I don't feel terrible, but I don't feel great either. I want to see if I can adjust my attitude and also make some changes in the way that I interact with people and see what effect that will have on how I feel.
2 comments:
Rick,
We (Diane's 5:15 class) read your entry "Culture Shock" and we understand how you feel and it gave us some good ideas how to learn a new language.
We spoke together in small groups and shared some of our experiences. For example, Eva talked about a friend from China who didn't know how to say "eggs" at the supermarket. She used her body to show a chicken flapping its wings. Adriana remembered going back to Mexico and forgetting some of the English she learned. Now she is learning things again. Viacheslav remembered the first time he went to a fast food restaurant and the cashier asked him: Do you want regular fries or curly fries" ?, He didn't understand so she used her hands to show him and then he made a choice.
We also shared some ideas to help you learn more Spanish. Isabella says practice speaking with children. Alberto says go shopping with friends.
Thanks for giving us so much to talk about. Take care and good luck with everything !
5:15 students !
Thanks Diane for telling me what your students talked about. I laughed when I read some of the stories! I'm feeling better about being here and also feeling more comfortable speaking Spanish. Sometimes it is still a little scary, but I'm beginning to feel more comfortable. I appreciate all of your comments and ideas! Have fun studying English!
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