Culture Shock

–noun
a state of bewilderment and distress experienced by an individual who is suddenly exposed to a new, strange, or foreign social and cultural environment.

I've been thinking about this phenomena lately since we're experiencing it every once in awhile. Actually, it occurs almost every time we step out the door! The feelings that come when you're experiencing it are not fun. We feel stupid and anxious. Sometimes we can't clearly put our finger on why we're feeling those feelings but we know it's because we are still adjusting to a new way of life here.

Here's a short list of the times when we have felt it:
- taking the bus (van). They don't have routes, they'll take you anywhere you want to go so you never know how long you might be in it.
-paying for anything. Why does it take us so long to figure out the coins and notes and then find out we've produced the wrong coins? They do look similar...
-sitting in a Ni-Vanuatu's home and trying to figure out the culture: what's appropiate and what's not and being surprised that some things that we wouldn't do in PNG, we can do here.
-I'm sure Morris is making adjustments on Tanna: volcano ash everywhere, sleeping under a mosquito net, using an outhouse, eating unfamiliar food, living and working with people he doesn't know very well and figuring out the best way to ask questions of the language informants during the consultant check so they understand what he's asking. He's done this before but there are still adjustments to be made.

However, one thing we've learned from living in PNG for 14 years is that it's amazing what we (human beings) can adjust to almost anything over time. To name a few from our first village: We eventually got used to using a sea toilet, cooking in a kitchen that was outside the house on a 2 burner plate, and all 5 of us sleeping on matresses under mosquito nets on the floor in one room. There wasn't much floor space but that allowed us to use one room for storage and the other room for all of our living needs. We eventually settled into a routine there - it took awhile, but we did adjust.

So when the uncomfortable feelings come, we know they will pass and it's normal. We can laugh some things off or talk through harder things. We take comfort in knowing it's a passing thing and it'll get better. Things here are becoming to feel more "normal" and that feels good!