I think I’m experiencing reverse culture shock 11 months prematurely… But that makes no sense, so let me explain.
Having travelled and lived all over the world, I’ve always been very aware of the idea of culture shock. Basically, culture shock is a series of phases that you go through when placed in a new environment, beginning with a honeymoon stage where everything is amazing, then into a crisis stage where you can’t handle the changes, and eventually into a sort of adaptation and compromise with your new surroundings.
I’ve never completely subscribed to this whole notion of a set way in which I am supposed to experience a new place, although I’ll be sure to update you if I ever hit the crisis phase. Instead, what I’ve always felt much more deeply are feelings of reverse culture shock. These are supposed to happen when you return to your old environment after being gone, so I guess I’m experiencing parts of it about 11 months too early.
For me, the biggest part of reverse culture shock has always been the phase where you have this feeling that nobody from your old life will understand your experiences, the things you’ve gone through, and the ways you’ve changed.
Even though I’ve been in Alaska for less than two months, I know I have experienced great changes on a personal level. And though I’ll be here for 11 more months, I already feel that I have trouble communicating about life here to people back home.
It was hard enough to jump into life here, having to learn from scratch about radio, subsistence, the Nome road system, and the geography of western Alaska, along with countless other things. Now I not only have to understand them myself, but to explain them to people who have never been to Alaska. How do I explain the view from Newton Peak? The feeling of pride when you slowly stock your freezer with salmon and tundra berries? Walking on the beach in the 2am twilight after three hours of dancing at the Jerry Cans concert?
Needless to say, it’s been a challenge.
This idea of being concerned about reintegration into my old life would seem to imply that I am fully adjusted to life here in Nome, yet you and I both know that is far from the truth. I am in no way an expert at navigating this new world and culture in which I live. I mess up daily on the radio, I can barely fillet a fish, and I swallowed a bug while running yesterday, so clearly there is still much to work on. Perhaps most clearly showing how far I am from being a local in this region, instead of being concerned for my safety and happy that it hasn’t yet happened, I am absolutely thrilled at the possibility of seeing a bear.
I think people who are experts in the idea of culture shock would offer a number of solutions for this communication problem I’m facing, but I’m more interested in watching the process unfold and learning the lessons myself. So here’s my solution for now: keep trying to explain my life to the people who matter to me, keep celebrating the ways I’m changing for the better during my time here, and keep an eye out for those bears I can’t wait to see.
