CULTURE SHOCK

CULTURE SHOCK

When I first heard the expression “culture shock”, I ignored it and laughed it off as something of no importance. How could I be shocked by museums and art galleries, movies and music, I thought, when I am an artist and an actor? That is my life and my career, so I ignored culture shock as one of no importance. Paintings and art exhibitions were the substance of culture shock in my mind, but I got it all wrong. It was not soon after I had moved to Canada, but years later when I started noticing odd things when making connections and making friends. 

Foreign culture shocks you with a new and strange way of living a life.  Culture shock  hits you with little details. It is never anything major, so you have to know what these little things are in order to notice them. Knowing them is still not enough because one needs to learn how to use the knowledge correctly. 

Here are several major thing to look out for. Language is the first one, but I would not say that it is the biggest or most important part of culture shock. I base my statement on the opinion that one simply must know the language. Although I have been speaking English for more than 14 years, I still have troubles understanding everything that native speakers say while they are talking to each other. When the same people talk to me, somehow unconsciously, they change the way they speak by making it simpler. They avoid using references to facts, events and people which and whom I, the foreigner, may not be familiar with. Locals use idioms, linguistic nuances, and locally invented expressions that are new to even a fluent stranger. We still speak the same language, but we speak it from different perspectives. 

Culture shock also bites you with non-verbal communication. Facial expressions, body language, intonation, and voice are as important as verbal expression, maybe even more. For example, one needs to learn how to read and interpret non verbal signs in order to understand people correctly. Learning how to use it will help you to be understood. It is a recent discovery of mine, I find, that Canadians have very reserved facial expressions. Sometimes, polar emotions are expressed with the same polite look -- calm and smiling. The same goes for body language. While “hot” nations (those countries with the majority of hot days in a year), like Spain, Italy, or the whole South American region are very articulate and animated with their bodies, North American people are calm and reserved with their expressions. If you tie up an Italian guy’s hands, he would not be able to talk. Italians cannot communicate without gesturing. I am very animated myself, and I sometimes shock locals with my way of talking. 

Being unable to adjust to the environment makes you very frustrated and lost. I wish I could see myself from aside without being subjective. If I only could look at myself through Canadians eyes to see how different, odd, strange and foreign I am, so I can make changes and adjust to the local culture. I am not saying I want to change who I am, but I want to know, learn and play by the local unspoken rules.

Canada, unlike its southern neighbor with its “melting pot” ideology, promotes the idea and provides support to sub-cultures among new immigrants. People tend to mingle with their own kind, when in New York, for example, small circle of close friends are much more diverse. These facts also makes it more difficult to make local, born and bred,  friends.

Canadians are great at making plans and following routines. Being able to plan a dinner with a close friend a couple of months in advance is a remarkable quality. Not only they can keep the promise, but also will be in the mood for it on the day. Russians are much more spontaneous, even unpredictable. Planning has never been in our system. From Government and law-making to the everyday life activities of regular people, chaos rules our lives. Some things are good to be planned in advance, and that I can agree with, but there should be room for surprises and spontaneity. Another and more serious reason for being alert is the constantly changing social and political environment. You never know what’s coming next and what to be prepared for. Revolution, banking crises, or abuse makes Russians all hyper vigilant, unlike our calm and stress free Canadians. 

There is a saying “You don’t bring old rules into a new church”, which means that you have to learn and accept the rules and customs of a new place. You may not like them, but you have to accept them and stop trying to change  them because you can’t. Stop wasting your energy and your talent on changing the way people communicate in this county, and learn to live and to love their rules. You will start enjoying it at some point because so many people do and it will be beneficial for all of us.