entry #2 and other considerations...
Most of my understanding of culture shock is secondhand at best. When my friend was abroad and I missed a scheduled phone call from Spain (I completely failed to understand the significance of a call home) it suddenly occurred to me that my self-reliant friend might actually have really needed to talk to me. At that point I began revising my assumptions about my friend (probably a long overdue change) and the nature of travel itself. Most of what I knew about travel was hearing about his exploits (a month in Costa Rica, a quarter in Madrid, etc.) and all of the glory of anticipating a trip and experiencing another culture. As my other friends went abroad I realized that there must be some universal experience I was missing out on. Story after story, often late into the evening, was often followed by knowing nods as someone couldn't quite complete their sentence. I have observed more return culture shock than anything else, but it has allowed me a window into the experience.
I liked the significance of recording our frustrations and observations as a way of not only observing ourselves, but observing our culture as well. As someone who definitely needs to process her own frustrations so that she can understand the significance of them, I appreciated the understanding that culture shock is not an experience to be avoided or passed through as quickly as possible. Instead it seems to be a fundamental learning experience, as necessary to our inter-cultural education as the formal learning that is also taking place.
I liked the significance of recording our frustrations and observations as a way of not only observing ourselves, but observing our culture as well. As someone who definitely needs to process her own frustrations so that she can understand the significance of them, I appreciated the understanding that culture shock is not an experience to be avoided or passed through as quickly as possible. Instead it seems to be a fundamental learning experience, as necessary to our inter-cultural education as the formal learning that is also taking place.