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SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:10 pm
by StroppyChops
I read somewhere recently about the phenomenon of second culture shock. It might have been here (you, Rozzie?) or in my missions media stream.

Basically, you deal with the first culture shock of moving to and settling in a land and culture that's very different to your country of origin (for some reason, the missions crew always call this your passport country).

Then, after you've been settled for a while (which is a hugely variable time period) you realise that you're now really and truly an expat and struggle to understand or fit into your "home" context, but you're becoming increasingly aware that the expat friends you've made in your new home country have been there that much longer and are much more integrated, which causes you a new and different form of culture shock.

I know there's also an inverse form of culture shock in which those who have been here the longest look back with fondness at the "good old days before the white saviours arrived" and don't like what the expat scene or the country itself is becoming (as a result of the SJWs), and that's a whole other interesting conversation.

Have you experienced second culture shock yet? Care to comment?

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:31 pm
by Kung-fu Hillbilly
Having lived in several different countries I've yet to experience any form of culture shock at all and suspect the term is only used by those who like to impress their friends over lattes as to how brave they've been venturing out into the big bad world. Or maybe those that might use the term perhaps didn't do any sort of research at all as to where they were going.I have never heard the term "culture shock" used in any form by anyone in or near my company which probably suggests myself and everyone I've ever known have been expatriate bad asses, or more likely, it's a term used only used by those who read the pages of "Venturing Out Into The Big World How Brave Am I?" magazine.

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:33 pm
by violet
^ maybe. Or maybe it's you not them.

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:38 pm
by Steven
It's kind of happening to me. I lived for 10 years in asia, back home to France a few years ago. It is hard to 're-adapt' to my home country and I'll certainly leave it soon because I am fed up with all the shit here.

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:44 pm
by Kung-fu Hillbilly
violet wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:33 pm ^ maybe. Or maybe it's you not them.
Maybe.

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:47 pm
by Jamie_Lambo
yeah remember reading it here as well i think,

i think the second culture shock was intended to mean like youve become integrated here, so much so, that you start having a second culture shock when trying to mingle with other westerners who arent so integrated and it in a sense alienates you from these people, i think its the similar reasons as to why Expats, especially long term expats, hate tourists and backpackers and always try to steer clear of them, ive seen the change in myself regarding this

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:51 pm
by Jamie_Lambo
Steven wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:38 pm It's kind of happening to me. I lived for 10 years in asia, back home to France a few years ago. It is hard to 're-adapt' to my home country and I'll certainly leave it soon because I am fed up with all the shit here.
haha definitely know what youre saying! im hoping this is the last visit back to the UK for me, trying to stick it out an extra few months here this time and save a bit more to help me in a more permanent move to the KOW

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:59 pm
by StroppyChops
Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:31 pm Having lived in several different countries I've yet to experience any form of culture shock at all and suspect the term is only used by those who like to impress their friends over lattes as to how brave they've been venturing out into the big bad world. Or maybe those that might use the term perhaps didn't do any sort of research at all as to where they were going.I have never heard the term "culture shock" used in any form by anyone in or near my company which probably suggests myself and everyone I've ever known have been expatriate bad asses, or more likely, it's a term used only used by those who read the pages of "Venturing Out Into The Big World How Brave Am I?" magazine.
Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:44 pm
violet wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:33 pm ^ maybe. Or maybe it's you not them.
Maybe.
Yep, maybe. I guess it's possible, although I'd question your stability if you experienced no unsettling effects at moving into a very different culture.

While we were running the homestay (now closed, as the other business is too demanding) we had the opportunity to meet and live with many people in a socially intense setting, and watch them go through various stages of culture shock, which are oddly similar to the lauded stages of grief. Their shock was (as was ours to a lesser degree, as we'd done the homework and the exploratory trips) related to the differences in living between their home country and what they saw of Cambodia, which was pretty raw. Most were lawyers, graduate lawyers, or law students working at the tribunal, so it's fair to say many came from privileged backgrounds, although some were from more working class backgrounds. Interestingly, those from poorer backgrounds seemed to cope better with what they saw and experienced here. We also spent a lot of time (if it was wanted) debriefing (no, Vlad, just no) and helping with depression and grief issues - one young man's local boss was assassinated while the young man was based here, others witnessed strong violence on children, etc.

Anyway, rambling. This gave us pause to observe and reflect (repeatedly) on initial culture shock. I guess Mrs Stroppy and I are experiencing the second form of culture shock to some degree, in that the people we know are either new on the scene (some in a great way, many others not so much) or have been here much longer, and we're also in an unusual age category for the work we're doing (I just turned 50) so our friends and colleagues are very varied, and different to us.

The point about returning to your point of origin and dealing with reverse culture shock is yet another category. We found that guests in the homestay who were here for at least 4 months had difficulty reacclimatising in their origin country as they found two things - a) their friends and family had moved on without them, and b) they found their friends, family and society so very shallow in contrast to Cambodian society.

Just some thoughts.

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 5:05 pm
by timmydownawell
I didn't get culture shock moving from NZ to AU (understandable, all much of a muchness there), and neither did I get culture shock moving to Cambodia (I guess because I have travelled a lot in Asia previously, so pretty much knew what to expect).

I do think I would get culture shock moving back to AU tho, mainly because of how expensive everything is there.

Re: SECOND culture shock?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 5:15 pm
by StroppyChops
timmydownawell wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 5:05 pm I didn't get culture shock moving from NZ to AU (understandable, all much of a muchness there)...
Yeah, that's like moving from Kampong Cham to the city. :D