So Shocking

It takes me a few minutes to register that I'm hearing English when I'm out on the streets. This time it didn't take as long. We were about 3 minutes from home when I heard a young man talking about China--in English. He was telling his noticeably quiet friend all about China. All about how horrible it is.

He continued behind us. I was very much looking forward to turning off of the street and getting to our apartment building, but just our luck--he followed right behind us. He persisted to point out all of the things that China does wrong. When he got to the elevator (and IN the same elevator as us) he explained how inefficient the elevator system and building planning were.

I was surprised by my reaction. I wasn't just annoyed, I was kind of...angry.

I couldn't believe he was saying these things right in front of so many people.  Even more, I felt like he was putting down my home.


I was a little worked up about this guy until I remembered something we learned in our culture prep class at BYU: culture shock.


We feel like we had it pretty easy as far as the difficult parts of culture shock go, but sometimes I wonder if we just didn't notice it going on. I think many people experience culture shock and don't even realize it's happening. Have you ever moved to a new place (even just from one city or state to another)? You've probably gone through some degree of culture shock.

There are 4 stages to culture shock. They don't always come in a specific order, or even just once each.

Honeymoon: This wasn't the first feelings we had when we arrived in China. First, there was exhaustion and what-are-we-doing-here feelings. After that we ate out, we bought inexpensive fruit, we walked down the quaint backstreets of Nanjing--this was the life!

Hostile: This is the stage that our "elevator friend" must have been in. I'm embarrassed to admit that this stage still hits me every once in a while. Sometimes I just want to stay holed up in our little home so I don't have to deal with being surrounded by the Chinese language.

Humor: Peeing on the street, a line of young men carrying bags together, mismatched outfits, old ladies singing karaoke in the park--we've laughed a lot since being here.

Can you see what's going on here? There is a woman cleaning a building by hanging from a rope held by a man.

At the top sits another man. Maybe keeping an eye on the rigging?

Home: I'm feeling this one more and more. Not just when we are sitting in our comfortable apartment or eating foods we are used to--but when I am walking in the park. maneuvering the busy streets, and buying produce from our fresh market. And what a good home it is.

"No matter what, no matter where, it's always home if love is there." (Thanks to a great mother-in-law, we have this saying framed in our home here to remind us that things can be good whatever the situation.)