Posts Tagged ‘culture shock’

The last few weeks have been a crazy blur. I had my leaving drinks the night before I left London. I went back to the Midwest for 10 days to catch up with family and friends. Even though I have been living in the developed world for the past year, coming back to America is still a culture shock. For example, who needs a salad like this one?!

10 days of Midwest was plenty for me. More and more, I am convinced that the suburbia life isn’t for me. It is for many, but not for me. I find it very odd that although it’s 100 degrees outside, it’s possible to go through an entire day and only feel the heat for 5 minutes (walking from your house to the car in your garage, then from your car to the destination and back). Something about this life feels awfully unnatural. There is convenience, and then there is excessive laziness.

I then packed my bags again and moved to New York City. As a teen, my dream was to live in NYC. Somehow, that dream went away, and now I find myself fulfilling that desire I had so many years ago. Somehow, wishes come true, but maybe not in the order that you want. In the past week, I spent time running around getting my apartment set up, meeting new people at SIPA (School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia). I finally feel at home. This is where I am suppose to be. I walked through the building and remembered the information session I attended in the spring before I went to Cameroon. Again, my wish came true, albeit in a different order.

New York City from up top

The student body is much larger than the LSE MPA, and much much more diverse. For one, people actually are interested when I say I was in Cameroon for two years. And in exchange, they have equally fascinating stories of life before SIPA. This is what I wanted. Academic life is only a fraction of the grad school experience; your peers can teach you a great deal. Tomorrow is first day of classes, and I am looking forward to getting the ball rolling!

one of the many SIPA meet & greet events

Other impression from my first week in NYC:

• New Yorkers are so much more friendlier than Londoners. It’s so normal to strike up conversation with people in the streets, or guy selling you xyz in the stores. In some ways, this is the warmth that I missed from my Cameroonian village life.
• London has cleaner underground and trains come much more frequently, but New York has AC in its subway.
• New York in general is dirtier than London, but it’s nice to not be lost all the time thanks to the numbered streets.
• There are way too many choices in every aspect of American life.

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I left Cameroon just a little over a year ago. This year went by in a blur. Swoosh! and it was gone. As I reflect upon this past year, I begin to realize the impact that reverse culture shock had on me. People always say that it’s easier going into a new experience than coming back. I never really had too much difficulty with past international moves, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. And then it hit me. It didn’t take me too long to get over the potato chips incident, or getting used to the luxuries of modern society. Yet the other aspects of reintegration affected me in ways that I didn’t allow myself to recognize.

I hate nothing more than people who make excuses for life, and I was determined not to be one. I thought nothing of jumping right into graduate school one month after my return. After all, many of my peers and those before us took the same path. So off I went again, far away from family and friends. I thought there would be plenty of others at grad school who would understand me. Yet because I didn’t carefully consider the student body, I was left feeling confused alone.

After living in a West African village for two years, it’s hard for me to want to care about theories or get stressed over academic marks. It’s all relative. In the initial months, I couldn’t balance the stress that my peers were experiencing with the thoughts that my village friends would simply be glad to have the basic comforts that we enjoy. And because I had such a terrific time there, I found it extremely difficult to not be able to share my stories and have people who understand around me. I was always fear to be the girl who can’t stop talking about Cameroon. It was frustrating to study development yet feel a major disconnect between the theories I was taught and my own experiences. And to top it off, not having someone to vent to. Although I was studying at a world-class institution, my life felt purposeless during the year.

Since I wasn’t really living around other RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers), I then get the feeling that I am the only person who has trouble re-adjusting back to the real world. Everyone else appears to be handling life splendidly, whether it be graduate school or starting new jobs. Every now and again when I do converse with my PC friends, I am reassured that others experience similar feelings, to various degrees. But most of us put on a front and carry on. Sometimes it’s easier to simply pretend it didn’t happen and live like “normal” people.

Even one year later, there are still days when I just can’t be bothered to care about certain things, days when I wonder how I lived without running water for two years, and remembering how glad I was to simply being alive after a crazy taxi ride. Days when I think about the simplicity of life there in Cameroon, I can’t help to wonder what all the fuss is all about in the modern world. Life struggles exist everywhere, but they are absolutely relative.

Coming back from two years of experience like Peace Corps is weird. The process takes time, and it helps to be around others who get it. I am not sure how long it will take, but perhaps it will take a lifetime of struggle to balance between the world that I experienced and the world I live in today. A friend recently said that having multiple life experiences actually complicates our outlook on life. We are left to find a balance between all of our experiences, and that is incredibly confusing and challenging. He was right, yet I would not trade it for anything.

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Today marks 6 months since I left Cameroon. So strange. That life feels so so far away now. I was going though my old tweets and laughed out loud at some of the ones I had produced. They also humble me and remind me of that state of mind – much simpler, less stressed, just happy to have the very simple things in life.

The last market day I visited in Batié

I figured, to commemorate, I’d take you back in Tweets from my last days in village up through the first weeks of reverse culture shock!

Last Week in Village

13 Jul: oh man. last night in village. couldn’t hold it together at the bar saying goodbye to friends. teary mess. #PeaceCorps

13 Jul: How I spent my last day in village: http://bit.ly/dmda2J #PeaceCorps #Cameroon

13 Jul: a dog, or a cat, or some animal just walked into my back door & then left. scared the crap out of me! even on my last day! #PeaceCorps

13 Jul: so it was a puppy that came into my house. he came back AGAIN & this time sat in my laundry room. scared me again. #PeaceCorps

13 Jul: hmm.. this puppy is just hanging out in my backyard now. I sorta like him. too bad I’m leaving. #PeaceCorps

14 Jul: taxi dude is here to pick me up. he’s actually half an hour EARLY. good sign. here goes nothing! bye bye village. #PeaceCorps

Last Week in Cameroon

16 Jul: all done with village! last week in y’de to make sure I didn’t catch any weird diseases. #PeaceCorps

21 Jul: free of strange diseases! two more days au cameroun. very bizarre. #PeaceCorps

23 Jul: flying out of #Cameroon in less than 3 hours! Last week with my #PeaceCorps loves: http://bit.ly/9Oj3a3

23 Jul: oh dear, received intro reading list from the LSE for grad school. rude awakening as I get ready to board the flight for the US! #PeaceCorps

23 Jul: au revoir, cameroun. hello, USA!

First month in the USA

24 Jul: omg I’m in America! waiting for my connecting flight to St. Louis @ Philly Intl. this is blowing my mind! #PeaceCorps #ReverseCultureShock

24 Jul: First of many posts on my reverse culture shock: Out of Africa http://bit.ly/9fxESo #PeaceCorps

24 Jul: Internet is SO fast in the USA! #reversecultureshock

25 Jul: I went to Target earlier and couldn’t pick what kind of potato chips to buy… the choices are overwhelming. #reversecultureshock

25 Jul: incredibly ironic that on my 1st night back, no power at my parents’ house after a big storm. mom said I brought Africa back!

25 Jul: drove for the 1st time in over 2 yrs. it really is like riding a bike. not too scary.

25 Jul: visited Sam’s Club just now. they call the US the land of excess for a reason. crazy. #reversecultureshock

26 Jul: Cameroon is already slipping fast away into a surreal dream, and I’ve only been back for one full day. #PeaceCorps

26 Jul: tackling this day in the real world alone. so strange. #reversecultureshock

26 Jul: forgot that bars check for IDs here. funny.

26 Jul: my parents’ cable TV is ridiculous! SO many channels!

26 Jul: I’ve completely forgotten about paper towel – what a marvelous thing! #reversecultureshock

26 Jul: toast & toasters are AMAZING! sliced bread in a machine that pops up? holy cow. #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: going through all of my possessions. boy, do I have a lot of crap. 2 yrs in the #PeaceCorps makes me realize how little I actually NEED.

27 Jul: have I already mentioned how amazing microwave is?! #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: cameroun me manque déjà… *sigh* #PeaceCorps

27 Jul: How I’m dealing with #ReverseCultureShock post #PeaceCorps : America, the Land of Plenty http://bit.ly/c0gyWj

27 Jul: it’s so nice to be able to click on youtube videos and not having skip them! #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: checking out hulu.com for the first time. whoaaaaa this is amazing!!!! #ReverseCultureShock

27 Jul: um… how do I use this oven? so complicated…

27 Jul: just saw an ad for a tv show that consists of men eating an exorbitant amount of food. why is that necessary?! #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: online shopping is AMAZING. I can take as long as I want to make a choice & not feel panicky! #ReverseCultureShock

27 Jul: whoa. strange that it was pouring rain outside and I heard nothing inside the house. no more tin roof.

28 Jul: great to talk to my #peacecorps friends. looking fwd to many reunions. so glad they were there w/ me & are now going through the same things

28 Jul: common consensus among my #PeaceCorps friends who’ve just returned to the US: Americans as a whole are fat and flabby.

29 Jul: oh boy, this iPod touch is CRAZY! it’s like a mini computer! I’m going to really freak out when the macbook arrives. #ReverseCultureShock

29 Jul: This is crazy! I’m waiting at the dentist office and I can tweet! Blowing my mind !

3 Aug: I think my body is rejecting the large quantity of cheese that I’ve been consuming since coming home.

5 Aug: i’m not gonna lie. it’s pretty nice to be able to order ridiculous drinks at @starbucks again!

6 Aug: Hmmm.. I forgot how to pack for a world where wearing the same outfit 3-5 days in a row is frowned upon… I’m not en afrique anymore.

9 Aug: Being able to drink water from the tap is AMAZING!

14 Aug: Heard a lady on the bus to DC spoke Pidgin earlier! So nostalgic. #peacecorpsf

15 Aug: progress on my #reversecultureshock post #PeaceCorps: au village no more http://bit.ly/aLvxB6

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First week of real classes came and went. The work load is quite intense already; it took me hours to simply put together the reading list for the term! At the same time, I’m being a complete dork and loving all of my lectures. I went to a few company presentations for consulting firms this past week and noticed a change in myself. Pre-Peace Corps, I was always very intimidated by these events and often become a bit edgy in making sure I make the best impression to recruiters. But post-Peace Corps, I have a brand new perspective.

At the BCG presentation, they walked through a mock example of how their firm handles a project. I realize all the steps I’ve taken alone in executing projects in the Peace Corps, and I did it all with shotty electricity, no running water, limited resources, etc. While sitting amongst a bunch of eager students trying to land a job, all I could think was, “I lived in a village in Africa for TWO YEARS. I got this.” It’s hard to make a big deal of most situations when you compare them to trying to manage basic survival.

Met a fellow RPCV who is in the 2nd year of the MPA program. Love the instant bond that Peace Corps provides. I think we made whomever talking to us at the time slightly uncomfortable when we started talking about how often we discuss the state of our bowl movements during service.

I relished in solitude today. Weather was foggy and gray out there, so not particularly enticing. The days where I can stay all day indoor all day and putt around doing what I like is now few and far between. Those days were norm au Cameroun, but now, they are rare gems.

Having a social life again is exciting; constantly meeting new people, having appointments for lunch, brunch, dinner, coffee etc. is at the same time extremely fun yet a little exhausting. The social expectation in the real world is something I’ve forgotten about in Cameroon. Last night, I felt bad for the first time in a long time because I was taking a long time to get myself motivated for a night out. That is not a feeling I ever had to deal with in Cameroon.

I’ve also been increasingly feeling a bit guilty for not taking advantage of all the art, culture, and fun that London has to offer. Going from a life where the only social activity is to drink beers with villagers on some wooden bench to a city that has everything to offer is a lot to take in. Baby steps. I’ve put in my fair share of socializing thus far and it was good to take a day for myself and realize it’s completely okay.

Just when I thought I was doing a stellar job moving right onto this next phase of my life, I realize there are many aspects of life that will take a long time to adjust. Try as I might, going from an African village to the capitol of UK is just not that simple.

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My first impression of the cruise is that it’s a summer camp for grown ups. You have lots of people rounded up in one place  and the meals and entertainment are on a schedule. The diversity of the people, however, was fascinating. Few of the crew members were Americans and many of the passengers spoke other languages as well. Many of the crew members came from countries that are not as economically prosperous as the US and in some ways, it made me think of the wastefulness that took place on that cruise ship.

There were food available 24 hours a day and the choices were so vast and supply so plentiful that people didn’t feel bad about throwing away half plate of perfectly edible food. The electricity was running constantly, be it the hot tubs on the deck, lights all around the ship, the casino, the rooms, etc. Constant electricity was rare on land where I was living just 3 weeks ago, yet I was able to have it ON A BOAT? And then there was the service – customer service so amazing that it was almost over the top. One evening, our wait for dinner was a bit long, and the next thing you know they sent us cakes and a note to apologize in our room. We love the turn-down service where they make animals out of towels. The contrast was drastic, and surreal. Throughout the week, I kept thinking to myself, this is the epitome of the American culture, and it was bizarre.

one of many towel animals during turn down service

The two port-of-calls were charming little seaside towns and good chance to get out of the enclosed space and walk around a bit. This was the first time I ever step foot into Canada, and much like what I imagined – it’s a lot like the United States. There are very few, if any, particularities that made me though, “oh, this is very Canadian.” There is one thing – the sales tax that hovers around 15%! No wonder they have such great social services. The money always comes from somewhere.

Saint Johns, New Brunswick

a local indoor market in Saint Johns

The cruise was overall an interesting experience, though probably not my favorite way of vacationing. It was, however, lovely to spend quality time with my family whom I haven’t seen in a year. Besides being enclosed on the ship for a week, we’ve also put on our touristy hats and visited New York and Washington D.C.. The tour continues to Boston tomorrow. Stay tune for updates!

Halifax, Nova Scotia

view from the window of our room

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