I've heard so many stories of how ppl were "Cultured Shocked" when they went to a foreign country for the first time.The only thing that "got" me was seeing the animals roam free in the streets.
My friend introduced me to "Bollywood" movies about 6 months before my trip and I got hooked lol. So I borrowed, watched on youtube.com and bought movies. I love them as I have always loved love stories and musicals lol. The movies helped me in by seeing the scenery and it also showed me some of the customs I needed to learn. Pawan was say the least slack in teaching me customs and culture that I so desperately needed to learn. He would only tell me the meaning behind things after I had learned them and asked him about them. Through the movies I learned customs like touching of the feet of elders, how to properly say and do the Namaste sign lol. And when meeting a Muslim you cup your hand vertically adau (sorry if that is missed spelled, spelling in foreign languages is not my strong points lol) I learned a lot from the movie "Kishna".
On www.youtube.com I watched movies but more importantly I watched whatever news story that I could find that was related to India. Now a lot of it wasn't in English but I didn't care you still get to see the images and get used to hearing Hindi or whatever or dialects they are using. You will see disturbing videos and pics as it is news stories.
I also had bought a few albums of Bollywood music and downloaded a lot more (be careful of downloading free music I had gotten several viruses like that).
When I landed I wasn't "shocked" til I got to Pawan's village and saw goat,pigs and cows roaming the streets. I felt I actually did a good job knowing what to expect. Anyways that's my tips lol. Catch you next blog!
My friend introduced me to "Bollywood" movies about 6 months before my trip and I got hooked lol. So I borrowed, watched on youtube.com and bought movies. I love them as I have always loved love stories and musicals lol. The movies helped me in by seeing the scenery and it also showed me some of the customs I needed to learn. Pawan was say the least slack in teaching me customs and culture that I so desperately needed to learn. He would only tell me the meaning behind things after I had learned them and asked him about them. Through the movies I learned customs like touching of the feet of elders, how to properly say and do the Namaste sign lol. And when meeting a Muslim you cup your hand vertically adau (sorry if that is missed spelled, spelling in foreign languages is not my strong points lol) I learned a lot from the movie "Kishna".
On www.youtube.com I watched movies but more importantly I watched whatever news story that I could find that was related to India. Now a lot of it wasn't in English but I didn't care you still get to see the images and get used to hearing Hindi or whatever or dialects they are using. You will see disturbing videos and pics as it is news stories.
I also had bought a few albums of Bollywood music and downloaded a lot more (be careful of downloading free music I had gotten several viruses like that).
When I landed I wasn't "shocked" til I got to Pawan's village and saw goat,pigs and cows roaming the streets. I felt I actually did a good job knowing what to expect. Anyways that's my tips lol. Catch you next blog!
Culture shock is actually hits much later than the first few weeks, at first it's "amazment shock" everything is new, everything is exiting different.
ReplyDeleteMost expats usually start being blasted with the dreaded culture shock at about 2-3 months into the country when the novelty wears out and you realise that getting used to the most obvious customs, climate change and main cultural difference is still not enough to function on a daily basis as you were used to all your life, it's a vicious thing that will send you in a total meltdown for the most insignificant thing such as suddenly having people dropping by to your home all the time when you are having a low moment and just want to be left alone. It's suddenly breaking down silly because you ran out of glue and you haven't yet figured out which small shop sell it, or having small shop assistant not understand what you want resulting in you going around the entire neighbourhood to find it when back home a trip to the local supermarket would have solved in 5 minutes.
Prreparing yourself like you did is a good idea, it usually help lessen the effects of the culture shock to a great extent, but I haven't yet met a single expat that hasn't gone through it and it always strike in the least expected way :)
Being prepared is very important and I'm sure you made a huge difference in your own perception of India by taking the time to research first. Very smart idea!
ReplyDeleteIf you ever go back to stay for a long time (many vacations are 3 months or more) I would look for local movies rather than big Bollywood films. There should be many state films that will show you more of his personal culture. Read up on the blogs about things other girls experienced in/around the 3-6 months marks. Most of us get slammed with emotions we can't figure out, understand or reason with.