I think there's some sort of misconception that culture shock applies to how different a country and a language are from your own. In truth, I think culture shock is an anxiety stemming from changing your entire frame of mind from one culture to another for an extended period of time.
I'm still not quite over my culture shock. Everyone I've talked to says it starts to fade at the 6-9 month mark. I certainly hope so. It's becoming very annoying.
Not only am I at a child's level with the language, even the small things baffle me. For example, facial expressions are extremely cultural. Sometimes I can't tell if a Japanese person is tired or impatient or sick to their stomach. In the US, if you don't want to talk to a person you pass on the sidewalk, you can always flash them a really big smile to imply friendliness and good will. In the US, we smile for many reasons, not just because something amused us. Here in Japan, they may tell you "Good morning" without a hint of a smile. I find myself smiling big to the people I pass on the sidewalk only to have them stare at me straight faced and walk on by or give me a straight-faced "Good morning." It's not because they're being unfriendly, they're probably wondering what I've found that amuses me so much I have to suddenly break out into a big smile.
Driving culture is another thing that baffles me. The streets are very narrow in most places I've seen. Many businesses are built without parking lots. So, people will pull their cars over and be half in the street, half on the side of the road, put on their hazard lights, and then go in the store and go shopping. In the US, this would incite a flurry of middle-fingers and angry honking as we tried to edge our way around the car partially blocking the road. Here, they don't bat an eyelash and you are expected not to as well. They simply go around the person, driving in the other lane into head on traffic if they must and then go about their day. As for me, it terrifies me to have to pull around a car half blocking the road and edge myself into oncoming traffic.
I know I'll get used to it soon and it'll be all gravy. For now though, it's giving me some anxiety as I try to really adjust to life in Japan.
I just heard a story on NPR about cultural differences in smiling, and one of the guests referred to "Asian poker face" and how Americans might think an unsmiling person is unhappy while Asians might think a smiling person is crazy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/2011/07/05/137631005/looking-at-the-bamboo-ceilling
I know it will get better for you, though. You're making such huge strides and learning so much, that this is nothing you can't handle.