new blog!!!

(there is a call for comments at the end of this... giving it a try :) )

Well, i was sitting there, writing on my old blog, peeved that i couldn't change the name now that i'm not in korea. then, after i wrote the last post, realized that i could easily just make a new one. glory be to the unlimited space on the internet! lol ah well. then the dilemma of coming up with a witty name while in the throws of jet lag dumbs. quite possibly worse than hangover dumbs, if you can imagine. the second coffee seems to be helping. anyway, after this next week, i'm not sure how often this will get written on. and since i'm no longer overseas, it won't be as exotic, but then again, life is what you make of it right? and my old posts were pretty boring, just the mundane everyday life of an english teacher. if that. kept mom happy though :) so i think this one will be more random stories of stuff i see and my take on it. so, today. i have to stay awake, i'm not allowed to nap cause i don't want to wake up at 5am again tomorrow. grrr. 4 hours of sleep is not enough.

i figure i'll write something on reverse culture shock. culture shock itself is no small thing, and seems to hit most people about 3 months after they move to a new country. having only moved to one new country, i'm not sure if this repeats with each new culture? (anyone?) but once over it in that country, you're good to come and go with no stress. it comes when your gut realizes that you're here to stay, not visit, and that life there isn't as easy as back home. nothing seems cute or funny anymore, everything that had been working alright before seems to fall apart again, and you generally feel miserable. once you push through this however, everything is peachy (except for holidays. be sure to have some good buddies). i went to korea prepared for this. what i was not prepared for was coming home that first time. granted, i came home just in time for my grandmother's funeral, but i've heard similar stories from friends. when you go to a new country, most people are expecting something different and new. you go through the shock, but it's not a surprise. when you come home, you're expecting to feel at home and comfortable, except now it's not home anymore. you've become accustomed to a new culture, and your own is now just that little bit foreign. reverse culture shock seems to set in a lot faster than 3 months, for me it was the first week. staring around at everyone speaking you language, not having everyone stare at you like a movie star, seeing how everything and everyone has changed and moved on without you, all of these are a little hard to take for most.

fortunately it's just that first time. since then, i've come home, felt a little strange, but expect it now, so i'm alright. and just to test out this whole comment thing, and since a lot of my buddies have traveled to asia or europe, what are your stories with culture shock?

i don't have any good ones from going to korea other than wandering the streets looking for any western restaurant. but i remember coming home and almost bursting into tears at the driver's licensing office cause the lady was being to mean to me. she was being normal (for government workers) but i was so used to the overly polite koreans...

so, i know there have to be a few good stories... post 'em up :)