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jazblanc77
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 3:12 pm Post subject: Reverse culture shock and going home |
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Given the thread about "Koreans on Korea" here http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=21807, I came to think of what people think of their own countries upon returning after a long sejour away.
I personally find going back to Canada very harrowing whenever I do. I have retrurned to Canada two times in the past 5 years from various places in the world and each time I was blown away at how detached I was with everything Canadian.
When I returned from France in 2000 after a year of studying there, I was reverse culture shocked so badly that when my mother took me to a Safeway (a large supermarket chain), I even found it difficult to enter the store with all of the strange English speakers walking around everywhere, the big grocery carts (they usually only use small baskets in France as they shop practically everyday), the fat people, and the completely different air to the place. It took me an entire summer to pull myself together and get used to how things were done in Canada again. I discovered that there are things that I like about Canada but there are also a lot of things about Canada and Canadians that drive me nuts.
The longer, I am away from Canada, the more difficult, I think, it will be to go back. I know that Canada is changing a lot everyday while I hold onto my perception of how it is which is actually based on how it was more than 5 years ago.
What are the experiences of those of you who have returned after a prolonged period away? What peeves you, mystifies you, surprises you, or jolts you about 'home' when you return, if anything at all? |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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I think I mentioned this previously but the major thing that got on my nerves back in New Zealand was the small mindness of the people... they live in such a great country but you would think that they had the living standards of a 3rd world country by the way joe public carries on. |
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Universalis
Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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I remeber going back in 1999 for the fist time after spending 2+ years in Korea. The TV was full of these strange ads from so-called "dot-com" companies. I didn't know what to make of them.
Brian |
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waterbaby
Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Baking Gord a Cheescake pie
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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I've been back in Australia for 3 months now and haven't gone through any reverse culture shocks... I was away for 2.5 years ... it's almost like I never left I had a day of the giggles when I first got back - listening to that Ozzie accent and over syllabisation of words (hey! did i just make up a word?) and enjoying walking on carpet. I hate the tax rate. Hate John Howard. Had TV ads. But otherwise OK! |
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kangnamsock
Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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When ever I go back to where I am from I think how white and fat the people look, especially in Wal-Mart. |
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Buff
Joined: 07 Apr 2004
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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Money, excess and waste are the most difficult aspects of going home. That and not having anyone around that knows or understands what you've experienced. You just try to keep yourself from blabbing "In (country name)..." |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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Both times I went back, I had a real problem with the "In Korea" thing. I've got so many friends that have never left the U.S., and I want to let them see a world that is nothing like the one they know. I'm a big fan of people getting out and travelling...
...anyways, I had that supermarket problem too. I walked into Walmart on my third day back and was taken aback by the sheer amount of everything. In English. Labels to read and compare. I spent 20 minutes choosing some damn peanuts!
After those two excursions back home and having some bad results from the most recent one, I'm not ready to go running home any time soon...not until it's time to settle down. I might go for a quick Christmas holiday or something, but that's about it. |
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phaedrus
Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: I'm comin' to get ya.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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When I was back in Canada I was fascinated that I could ask store clerks questions and get answers. The money was a bit strange. Especially having a pocket of Canadian coins that makes about $20 (toonies and loonies). |
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Harin
Joined: 03 May 2004 Location: Garden of Eden
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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Everytime I visit Korea, I get inflation-shocked.
For example;
1997 2003
ramen 200won 500won
subway ticket 300won 700won
ȣ�� 200won 1,000won
jajangmyun 2,000won 3,000won
Crazy..... |
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Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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I basically loved the first few months back in Australia. It was a novelty not to be stared at for 5 mintes ... or see only a small percentage of the population running a red light ... or toilets with toilet paper in the cubicles (who would have thought?).
As time went on, I picked up a few problems due to personal situations. I can't "blame the culture" this time - its up to me to solve them. |
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jazblanc77
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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phaedrus wrote: |
When I was back in Canada I was fascinated that I could ask store clerks questions and get answers. The money was a bit strange. Especially having a pocket of Canadian coins that makes about $20 (toonies and loonies). |
Yeah, I can second this. Whenever I have returned to Canada, I have always been coming from a non-English speaking country and it is difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that I don't really have to think very hard to communicate well. For example, whenever I go to a post office, a bank or whatever in Korea, I always try to figure out what I will say to communicate what I need there. In Canada, I often found myself worrying about communication problems for the same tasks, only to remember that everyone in Canada speaks Englsih just like me. It really messes with my head! |
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chronicpride
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:18 am Post subject: |
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When I went back for the first time after being in Korea for my first year, I was expecting more of a shock. The open spaces, the size of everything, english everywhere. But it wasn't so bad.
The one thing that I immediately noticed at Seattle airport for my stopover enroute to Calgary, was how fat or overweight everyone was. It gave me some sense of relief, as I felt thin and not self-conscious about my weight. In North America, I look fit and slim. But in Korea, I feel overweight compared to everyone around me.
Then I noticed how the sounds of english started becoming overwhelming and irritating. Sitting down in a restaurant and having to order in english from an english menu and being surrounded by overweight businessmen chatting and being able to pick up on every conversation around me. Listening to the verbal emoting of bravado, arrogance, humor, sorrow, etc..in the pockets of 10 different conversations going on, plus listening to the TV going on in the background, plus hearing the chatter of wait staff and cooks. That made me miss Korea, despite only being off of the plane for 30 minutes.
Within 2 days, I was fully missing Korea. The food, the sounds, the people. Getting drunk with friends and yearning for someone to talk with me in Korean or at least hearing a Korean conversation going on somewhere around me. I paid a visit to grocery store that I used to frequent, which is owned by some Koreans who were from Daegu.
It's been a year since I've been back to Canada and I don't plan on being back for another 6-12 months, and as I've immersed myself deeper into the local culture and language a lot more for the past year or 2, I expect a more profound shock the next time. |
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 4:03 am Post subject: |
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waterbaby wrote: |
I hate the tax rate. Hate John Howard. Had TV ads. But otherwise OK! |
Agree with you:
Political situation - sucks
Money situation - sucks
Two fairly big problems! I miss my loved ones, the wide open spaces and little else about Australia. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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I'm leaving tomorrow for my third trip home in 10 years. I wish I could say I was looking forward to it, but I'm not. I wouldn't go at all except for family obligations.
What I didn't like the other two times is that it is impossible to sum up what my life is like here in the 5-10 minutes that anyone is willing to listen. They can't relate to my life and I was bored with their lives before I left and nothing has really changed. Just more of the same.
I really miss the special treatment that I get here. No clerk at 7-11 is ever excited to see me come in. I don't get any free french fries when I order a beer. No one wants to talk to me at a bus stop. No one uses two hands or makes sure my glass is full. |
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korian
Joined: 26 Feb 2004
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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i've been back in oz for about a year now. this is the longest i've been back after years away in different places. the biggest thing i love is the open spaces and the anonymity and the general good conduct of people.
by that last statement i mean a general respect for rules and etiquette. i know i'm imposing my own ideas of etiquette but that's me.....it's nice not to have ppl push in on you, not chew with their mouths open, not to be squeezed in tight everywhere, have ppl hoiking on the street. but the nicest thing is going out anyhwere and noone paying any attention to me. they are the nice things about being home.
the bad things are the amount of intolerance still. you really notice it after you've been away. still so many narrow minded fools, which makes it worse than korea in some regards coz we're supposed to be a developed, educated multicultural country. kind of disappointing too coz when in korea i felt often 'ppl wouldn't say/do/act like that in oz. but they do. but nowhere near as much.
john howard is a nightmare, tax, and general price of things.
but the beaches are second to none in this world. i'm living on the gold coast but am from sydney and oz's beaches are just sublime.
the variety of food is wonderful.
all up lots of good lots of bad. things are probably the same as when i first left but it's me that's changed a lot.
but i think i can live in eihter my home country or another place. i would never go so far as to say i felt alienated from my home country.....it just seems different from the country i knew before i went away. but it's still the same. i'm not. |
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