Tomorrow!

Here it is! in 24 hours I will be at the airport to head off on this big adventure. We've been preparing since September, but it still hasn't solidified for me yet. 

One thing I've been learning about in class and will be able to experience first-hand is the whole process of Culture Stress. It's not the same extent as Culture Shock, and is experienced by many people in many circumstances. Whether you are moving to a new city in Canada, working in a new field, serving in a new church or travelling around the world, you can experience culture stress.

There are four steps to Culture Stress, and they can often repeat! Or you can be stuck on one for longer than the average person:

Honeymoon

 

This is when you are in love with the new culture. There are new, fascinating things and you can't get over how great the people or the new things are. At the moment you feel like you could live in that environment with no problems and nothing bad could happen!

Frustration

Things annoy you about the new culture and you can become grumpy and irritable at the smallest of things. You begin to see people in the new culture as inferior to people from your own culture or their traditions are inferior to your own. All you want is to surround yourself with things from your own culture and go back to the way things were. It is hard to function in everyday life, buying things, eating and getting around and you are often caught offguard with social cues and traditions.

Recovery

You've started to get over the problems you've had with a culture and started relaxing again. You can find humor in things again and begin wanting to make relationships. You begin learning many of the cultural cues and it's not as hard to get by in everyday life.

Adaptation

You are pretty much a local in this stage! There are very few barriers in your communication and you are not often caught off guard anymore by cultural differences. After this point, it may even be harder for you to adapt back into your "old" culture as you will see new flaws in it and things will annoy you about it, causing "Reverse Culture Stress".

Attitudes that Minimize Culture Stress

humble
compassionate
patient
willing to learn
flexible
respectful
brave
servitude

Attitudes that Maximize Culture Stress

ignorance
superiority
pessimisstic
stubborn
sarcastic
unwilling to change