Yes, I am back. I have been working through jet lag for over a week. I think the haze is definitely clearing! Oddly, a frazzled short term memory seems to be my worst symptom. I have several ideas zipping around in my brain that I want to explore over the next couple of weeks. I'm going to mention them here, so that I will definitely get back to writing about them. I have been fascinated with the idea of culture shock. I have also been processing the idea of education in China, of how this experience has changed me, of connections between the two unique languages, of being in the shoes of a student, and of some ideas that I have lost for the present time:)
The concept of culture shock has intrigued me since my return.
I had always assumed that culture shock was a thought process. I genuinely believed that I would not experience much of a shock because I have always loved traveling and checking out new places and experiences. I have certainly come to understand that my world is not the same world that others live in. Not only do I accept that, but I love to explore and experience how others live. I assumed that my attitudes would lessen or remove my culture shock. That was not to be the case. I had completely misunderstood the concept of culture shock.
Based on my experiences, I would now define culture shock as a physiological occurrence. Culture shock is something that occurs when the brain cannot process the unfamiliar sensory experiences. I suspect it may have something to do with our survival wiring.
So what did I experience?
I can only explain it this way:
So many of our experiences are stored in our memories as sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. While my taste buds were definitely experiencing new items, my sense of smell and sound were actually experiencing culture shock more vividly. It wasn't until a couple of weeks into the trip that I realized that on my first outing in Jinan, I was experiencing smells and sounds that my brain was struggling to process. A car horn in Nashville is an unusual noise that signals danger. It requires immediate attention for survival-- or at least to avoid an impending collision. My brain had no experience with the constant blare of horns I heard on the first day. I just simply did not know how to associate the noise with any of my prior experiences. Obviously, I've never been to New York City!
Likewise, my nose contributed to my sense of culture shock. Two weeks into my trip I tried to discern some of the smells that had bothered me on that first day. I could not do it. My brain had created the pathways to connect the smells with something in particular: plastic hanging in doorways, cooking oils, seasonings, food, pollution. On that first day, however, my brain was only recording an overabundance of new information. It was in shock.
The great thing about this sensory overload is that our brains eventually handle the new input and adjust. The day passes and the next day order is restored. This is when the excitement of a new culture begins to kick in.
So, I am clearly not a scientist. What did all of this mean to me? Well, it shook me out of my sheltered American cocoon. It reminded me that many of my students have experienced this. Our visiting exchange students experience this. When our senses are bombarded with the new, culture shock happens.
