An Experience of Culture Shock - Misaki

 

When people go abroad, they encounter differences compared to their own countries. To be honest, since I came to Dunedin, I haven’t faced any serious problems related to physical health, but I had a lot of small issues with food and communication.

I love fast food such as pizza, chicken, and hotdogs and used to eat them twice a month in Japan. However, when I came here, my eating habits changed. At first, I was happy to have pizza, fish and chips, and hamburgers but I’m eating them at restaurants with my friends or at my homestay every week and as a result of this, I’m fed up with eating same things. I gave up those habits and started to exercise more. Another example is eating just noodles without soup. When I first saw a meal of plain boiled noodles prepared by my host mother, I had a hard time accepting it as a usual meal. Even now, I have not come to terms with eating this meal. I definitely add tomato sauce to it.

Regarding communication, I feel more surprised than uncomfortable. It is important for Kiwi people to communicate with others, even though they do not know each other. For instance, an elderly person who spoke to me, and I enjoyed a couple of talking at a café with him or one of my neighbourhoods waved hello with a smile. In contrast in Japan, I have never had such experiences. People only talk with friends and family at school or houses. Especially on the train, almost all people are silently using their smartphones with expressionless faces. Regarding communication style, I’m afraid of experiencing reverse culture shock. When I return to my country, I might have some troubles with my friends because my communication style has changed, and now express my emotions more.

In my opinion, the longer people stay in different countries, the more complicated their emotions become. Regardless of the situation, it is important not only to learn different languages but also to understand different cultures.