I know it'll get better. I might be at the worst point which is the turning point. I know it'll get better.
Ok I hate it here. Now before everyone gets alarmed and freaks out I know what I'm going through is Culture Shock. I know it'll pass. But right now I absolutely hate it here. Here's a little graph or two that I've found that illustrate the wave of Culture Shock that people feel when moving to another Country.
I'm definitely in the disintegration stage. The honeymoon phase was very very short in fact and it's been a steady downhill jaunt since then.
I've really hit the end of my tether. Brace yourself here comes a rant!
I can't understand what people are saying half the time, they can't understand me, I can't seem to get anything done properly. I'm at zero tolerance for screw ups. Buses that don't show up, entire lines on the tube that are shut down on the weekend, do I tip or not?, why is the hair salon sending me a text message to confirm and appointment I never made? Why are people yelling constantly?, why the hell are they swearing and screaming at each other constantly?, why are they talking to me?, What's with the profanity?, why did that pack of kids just throw a McDonald's wrapper at us? (seriously!), why the hell don't pubs serve food after 7 o'clock??, where do I go to buy a power cord for my computer?, how am I supposed to go to a bank to do anything when they're only open 10 - 4?, why are the young children causing a ruccus everywhere, how can you found your way around this city when steet maps look like spaghetti I mean no one can give directions without going into a 20 minute discussion about the 19 different ways you could get somewhere but you never actually get street names just land marks am I the only one uncomfortable with "turn at the roundabout, the you'll see a pub, it's after that can't miss it"?, where are the street signs?, the streets windiness means you can never see more than a half block ahead of you which is starting to make me feel claustrophobic, transportation is ridiculously expensive, the shops all shut down early, I'm stuck in the boonies and I'm in a seriously rough area of London I can't wait to get out of...
And that's just the beginning.
I went down to a place called Sloan Square the other day and walked around. It's a very wealthy shopping area and I started to feel better. I think it was partially because I saw something I recognized. There were stores I knew like The Gap, Swarovski, Guess and other stores that I at least recognized. Also people looked relaxed and like they were having a good time. This seems somewhat rare in my neighbourhood.
Anywyay I found some articles about Culture Shock that describe exactly what I'm going through. It's pretty typical.
I can't wait until I reread this 6 months from now and laugh and laugh and laugh at how crazy I was.
4 comments:
Dave man, like sort it out, know what I mean. Mate it ain't all bad, you went down brick lane this aft and scored a ruby for a song. Surely that was the dog's bollocks, Britain ain't all that bad innit?
Too all those who are sane and Canadian a ruby, I've just been informed, is cockeny rhyming slang that denotes "Ruby Murray" which rhymes with curry....so a ruby is curry. Britain makes perfect sense after all! :)
I've now been informed that Ruby Murray was a scottish singer from the 1950's. She set a pop chart record for having 5 hits in the top 20 at one time. A record equaled only by Elvis Presley and Madonna.
Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll.
Madonna is the biggest female star of all time.
And Ruby Murray rhymes with CURRY! Hence the term "I'm going out for a Ruby." Britain has a strange way of commemorating it's stars.
Sounds like you need to hire a local to act as an interpreter until you get your bearings. For the fun of it, you might try out one of our local colloquialisms and report the result. One that comes to mind is “keep yur dick skinners outa my biness.” That should go over really well.
Man, this all sounds very familiar to me, simliar to my experience in Paris. Some things not covered in your culture shock chart are about your ablility/desire to adapt, adopt or reject. Some folks after the honeymoon period will look at the differences between home and their new country and reject everything, try to make their life as it was back home, resist adapting to the new culture, and talk about how great and better things were back home. Other folks reject entirely their homeland and do everything they can to fit it: try to adopt the language/inflection (those Canucks with fake sounding English accents), look at everything as better than it was back home, etc.
You gotta figure out where you fit in during this post-honeymoon phase. My advice: sloooow down a little. The pace over there, from walking on the street to speed of pub service to banking queues is way way slower than we're used to in North America. Chill out, lower your expectations, and you'll be a lot happier.
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