This past week I have been attempting to prepare myself for the inevitable culture shock I will experience in trying to adjust to a new culture. The hardest part in imagining how culture shock will affect a person is trying to imagine the culture itself. I haven't had a lot of experience with the European culture, and so it often seems like preparing for culture shock is futile. How can I prepare for something I haven't even experienced?
I expect that our trip to France will be exactly how we think it will be, but completely different than we could imagine. Obviously, this seems like a paradox. I think our time in France will be glorious, and so in that sense it will be exactly how I imagine it will be. I just don't know how it will be glorious.
I have slipped into a routine the past few days of summer vacation, and I know in a few short days, I will be adjusting to a new routine and new culture. In doing so, I would like to appear as Parisian as possible. This includes dressing like a Parisian, and adopting the mannerisms and cultures of a Parisian. Overall, I think this will be a hard experience, but enjoyable. So in preparing to adjust for culture shock, I found that I must prepare for the culture first.
Madame Clay has done a wonderful job of reminding us that we must also adjust to a big city, as well as a different culture. I spent my entire childhood in the Clemson/Anderson area, which is obviously a lot smaller than Paris. I expect my culture shock will come from the fact we are living in a larger city, rather than the fact we are in a different country altogether.
While adjusting to a new country and culture will inevitably be difficult, I expect it to be interesting and an experience to last a lifetime.
Your paradox is exactly accurate Elizabeth! By the time you see this I guess you'll have an inkling of how much :) it will definitely be a memorable experience. You're right about the culture shock prep and what a catch-22 that can be - the more important part about being ready for culture shock is being ready for it to _happen_ so that when it does you can recognize it - at least somewhat - and know that it's normal, etc.... the "shock" part I think is when people aren't expecting it to happen at all and then they can be mad at themselves or feel like it's their French or them not being flexible, or they can even just be really confused at feeling negative at times in a culture that they usually feel like they really like... :) just keep communication lines open with yourself and with others around you - let others know if you're having a rough day, etc. - support each other :)
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