Culture shock is defined as the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.
1.Food portions in America – I knew food portions in the USA were vast long before I visited (stereotypes sometimes bear true) but I wasn’t expecting regular portions the size of my head. It did, however, serve me well in Hawaii when I could get 3-4 meals out of one order.
2.Cosmetic enhancements in Colombia – breast implants I’m familiar with (not personally, mind you) but bottom implants? I was told that implants were a common gift for a girl’s 15th birthday in Colombia.
3.Use of the ‘c’ word as punctuation in Australia. It’s a word that can start a fight in England so it’s used sparingly. Not in Australia where it’s thrown into conversations as a noun, an adjective, a verb and, failing that, a full stop.
4.Dogs for food in Cambodia – I couldn’t understand why a homeless man in Cambodia had three prized puppies on a string. He’ll sell them for food, a local told me. I thought he meant that the man should sell them so he could get money to eat. That wasn’t what he meant.
5.Fresh from Downton Abbey manners in Brazil. I thought I had decent enough table manners until I got to Brazil. Oh, my goodness, the table Ps&Qs of this nation put me to shame (as I tried to fish a lemon pip out of my drink with my finger and received a stare). A tad intimidating but very pleasant to watch. Britain takes note.
6.Women comfortably exposing their stomachs in India – growing up in a society where women (and men) are trained to covet a flat stomach or otherwise keep it covered, it was refreshing to see so many mid-sari stomachs hanging out in all their wonderful fleshiness.
The ferry to Senegal. I’ve been on some crammed, questionable transport in my travels but the ferry between The Gambia and Senegal has stuck with me.
7.Casual machete carrying in Nicaragua – the first time I saw someone (a young boy) carrying a machete, I was ready to run. Within a day, I realized it was the norm (for farming purposes I was told). Having one rest on my leg for several hours on a cramped bus was still daunting.
8.The number of homeless people in the USA – for one of the richest countries in the world, the disparity of wealth and the resultant number of homeless people in the USA still shocks me even after several visits. The fact that most people blank out their homeless counterparts shocks me more.
9.Child prostitution in Colombia – the number of sub-16-year-old girls on dates with western men who were plus-50 was something I couldn’t un-see once I’d started to notice it in Colombia.
10.Food in the Philippines (an Asian anomaly) – given its location, I thought good food in the Philippines was a given. Wrong. You can read my thoughts on that here – Food in the Philippines: The Lingering Taste of Salty Disappointment.
11.Horn blasting in New York – Deafening, disconcerting and completely pointless. If a city’s collective frustration has a noise, it takes the form of a horn blow in New York.
12.The poverty in India – I can’t describe in a sentence the shocking extent of the poverty in India except its estimated that over 275 million people live on less than ¢1.25 a day. Of all my culture shock experiences, this one has stayed with me the most. I left India feeling both incredibly humble and sad.
13.The dehumanized healthcare system in the USA – I’ve come into contact with the US healthcare system twice. Both times my financial status was given priority above my health. On one occasion, the doctor spent more time at her computer with her back to me than assessing me.
14.Using the toilet hose in Thailand – I confess, I still don’t really ‘get’ the whole toilet hose in Thailand. Ok, I understand why but I’m still not sure about how. Each time I tried it (do as the locals and all that) I ended up with an embarrassingly wet ‘area’ on my clothes. Please tell me if I’ve been doing this all wrong.
15.Hose and ‘suicide’ showers in Latin America – speaking of hoses…from a sawn-off hose pipe concreted into the wall to a more swish arrangement (shower-head) that came complete with exposed electrical wires, it may have been shocking at first but didn’t take long before I got used to this rustic and sometimes risky way of washing.
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