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Culture shock to me, as someone who has visited 20-ish countries and lived in 2, is more that "things are almost normal and like what you're used to, but just n
by intranation 17y ago
Culture shock to me, as someone who has visited 20-ish countries and lived in 2, is more that "things are almost normal and like what you're used to, but just not enough to be comfortable", and as a result you end up perpetually on edge and perpetually adjusting just outside your comfort zone. It's jarring and difficult, a little like the room in Orwell's 1984 where the corners aren't quite straight, and things are just out of focus.
I didn't get culture shock in Tokyo, because it's just so different to everywhere else I'd been that I completely stopped the usual comparisons and just gave up.
- prawn 17y agoA bit like a cultural uncanny valley. Sounds plausible to me.
- Vivtek 17y agoI got that from Germany, after a month in Tokyo. I was fine in Tokyo, but in Germany I could read the signs, after all. In a month I was horribly homesick. London, though - London just about killed me in one day. I was a mess when I was younger.
- unwind 17y agoUh, not to be a complete jerk or anything, but do you realize that your comment is far easier to understand if you actually mention where you're from? Now it's like reading half of a joke.
- Vivtek 17y agoIndiana. I probably would have said that before I moved back, but there's something about the isolation of the American heartland that makes the rest of the world feel a little like a dream you once had. Sorry.
- jstraszheim 17y agoThat was a very odd and wonderful comment. Thank you :)