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Reverse Culture Shock

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Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#61

Post by unsignedint »

DanielleMolloy wrote: post #58
unsignedint wrote: post #19

Even just visiting Japan (I'm originally from Japan) causes this for me. Short stay is fine, but I feel really foreign, maybe more so than "foreigners" as people in there can detect disconnect of my appearance and mindset by my subtle deviation from expectations of how I act in there.

I have been to Japan twice for 9 months in total (originally from Germany). I didn't experience culture shock in Japan at all, but I also never really came back. Reverse culture shock can last for long. It is impossible to talk about this experience to anyone but those who have experienced Japan (or Asia) themselves for long time because most people can not even imagine how different cultures can be.

It well may be as far as social experience goes, you may not feel so much of "culture shock" in Japan as a foreigner, or at least easy on you. Generally Japanese people don't expect foreigner to act like them. You will never blend in, but flipside is you get perks for being foreigner there.

I don't know if this played any role in your experience but that seems to be what I have been hearing around me...

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#62

Post by adiabatty »

wapz wrote: post #25
unsignedint wrote: post #19

Even just visiting Japan (I'm originally from Japan) causes this for me. Short stay is fine, but I feel really foreign, maybe more so than "foreigners" as people in there can detect disconnect of my appearance and mindset by my subtle deviation from expectations of how I act in there.

I'm in Japan now but being a Japanese-american I "look" like most Japanese. That being said, I'd say almost every Japanese knows I'm a foreigner before I open my mouth. Just the body language, way you walk, approach people, and what you wear seems so homogeneous that I am easily distinguished (it could just be my clothes or something like that of course).

A while back a political ad ran that was supposed to take place in Beijing in 2030. There was some discussion about the students and whether they looked believable given expected improvements in nutrition and dental care given the PRC's current trajectory. I thought the discussion was silly — the students were obviously Americans because of the way they chuckled. IIRC the people who did the casting call for it put ads for Asians around a community college in the DC area and offered free food.

Mannerisms can be very noticeable if you're attuned to them.

Students chuckling: https://youtu.be/4LUumD0MwL8?t=48s

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#63

Post by bkjelden »

SomeCallMeTim wrote: post #40

Heck, I grew up in the Bay Area, and I get reverse culture shock when return to visit for more than a few days. So. Much. Traffic. People packed into trains. Everyone so...not exactly rude, but not nearly as friendly as I've grown accustomed (I live near Boulder, Colorado). I feel like my blood pressure is higher the entire time I'm there. Of course the air pressure is higher, so that may have something to do with it…

The bay area is unlike any other place I've ever visited or lived in America. Every aspect of life is more crowded.

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#64

Post by trustfundbaby »

I've lived in the US for almost half my life. I went back to visit my home country in West Africa for less than a week just a few years back ... I was so stressed out by everything there that I fell sick for almost two days. Then I moved my departure date up by a day just to get out early.

No credit card machines, nothing resembling customer service (I'm talking actively rude or disinterested store attendants), Nightmarish traffic since traffic signals and lanes are just a suggestion and not enforced by police, Hyper religiosity, rampant and casual homophobia (they're all convinced America is going directly to hell because of gay sex), truly shit roads, with cars that shouldn't be on the road EVERYWHERE, right beside Lamborghinis and Mercedes, barely-there running water, internet and most importantly, unpredictable electricity supply and the ever present drone of diesel generators that supply power to individual houses because the electricity supply is so useless.

It was too much. I've never been so happy to see a starbucks in my life.

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#65

Post by solidsnack9000 »

Living in Switzerland for a year, and then returning to San Francisco, I had a feeling of disaffection and disappointment for about a year afterward. It took me all of the that time to again be able to enjoy the things around me -- SF restaurants, the weather, &c -- in the way that I did before I left.

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#66

Post by jessaustin »

rhizome wrote: post #6
bandrami wrote: post #3

Yup. I'm a "trailing spouse" for an American diplomat, and this is so true. One thing that always, always, always happens to Americans when we repatriate is the "grocery store freakout". At some point, you will go to a grocery store, and freeze. "Man..." you'll keep saying, "Americans really love breakfast cereal..."

"Man..." you'll keep saying, "Americans really love breakfast cereal..." Though it's true to some degree, I wouldn't go that far. My sense is that the higher the margin on a product or product-line, the more money the manufacturer and distributors have to purchase shelf space. Cereal, Chips, Crackers, Ice Cream, Mayonnaise. The last time I was at the store I counted 21 separate varieties of Triscuit, 10-12 flavors ov…

That explains too much... why aren't high-margin products in other developed nations' grocery stores treated the same way? Or, if they are, why isn't breakfast cereal one of them? Perhaps because Americans really love breakfast cereal?

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#67

Post by kawsper »

inv wrote: post #50
kawsper wrote: post #23

I lived 3 years in the UK, and now I am back in Denmark for a while, I hope to return, but lets see what Theresa May & co figures out. I always thought I wanted to go for the dual-citizenship, but not anymore. It is difficult to live in a new place, you don't really feel integrated even though you have friends, speak the language, go to events, pay your taxes, and get the jokes, you will always be the dane and a fore…

I have the same, living in the UK for the last 3 years. Any ideas how to feel home back in Denmark? Do you mind you don't feel 100% home in any of the places?

You take the best of both worlds, so no I don't mind it as much anymore.

But it makes you think of the all the shenanigans of borders, citizenships and all the time we use on discussing who belongs where, and why.

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#68

Post by jessaustin »

holdenc wrote: post #35

Why call it reverse culture shock? It's simply a realization that the United States not the best country in every regard. And in many regards it's failing badly. Personally, I call it the I-can't-get-healthcare shock, or the I-can-only-find-chain-restaurants-in-flyover-country shock, or the NYC-subway-is-not-as-nice-as-the-Asian-country-train-system-I-just-left shock.

I-can-only-find-chain-restaurants-in-flyover-country

Look harder, and expand your search to more than three blocks from the highway exits.

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#69

Post by colmvp »

SomeCallMeTim wrote: post #40

Heck, I grew up in the Bay Area, and I get reverse culture shock when return to visit for more than a few days. So. Much. Traffic. People packed into trains. Everyone so...not exactly rude, but not nearly as friendly as I've grown accustomed (I live near Boulder, Colorado). I feel like my blood pressure is higher the entire time I'm there. Of course the air pressure is higher, so that may have something to do with it…

I always hated driving in SF.

I can deal with traffic.

I can deal with the pedestrians and cyclists.

I can deal with the slew of drivers who thought signaling was optional.

I can deal with paying for parking.

But holy shit the lack of paid off-street parking lots in numerous parts of the city bugged me, alongside the absurdly inexpensive on-street parking. I never understood why the city didn't raise the price of on-street parking spots given the demand. The city which I currently live in has 4x the population of SF yet it's significantly easier to find parking spots in most parts of the city as the parking rates properly reflect the true cost of parking.

Re: Reverse Culture Shock

#70

Post by [deleted] »

wtbob wrote: post #47
55555 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very true! In the same vein though, the selection at places like Whole Foods is one of the best parts of coming home (from the third world). One of the hardest things for me to adapt to is how "liberal" America has become. It's not an objectively bad thing, but I feel like I went into a coma and woke up 20 years later in a world I can barely relate to. As an example, I'm thinking about stuff like Miley Cyrus' perform…

> One of the hardest things for me to adapt to is how "liberal" America has become. It's not an objectively bad thing One wonders, if the rest of the world is more cautious about this sort of thing, if maybe it's America that's in the wrong. Maybe other cultures deal with these things more sensitively or more rationally or just better . My experience travelling abroad is that people seem more comfortable in their ski…

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