November marked two years since my son and I stepped off the plane in Bangkok, where Phil was happily waiting our reunion. At that point, he had been in Thailand for two months without us because Levi and I were enjoying an extended visit to the U. S. after leaving China. In reflecting upon my life overseas, I’m sure I’ll write about culture shock and China in some future post or posts.
But one interesting thing I’ve noticed about being in Thailand: I have not had culture shock, for the most part. China really was like boot camp. For example, we would have extended periods of time without running water in the apartment. Sometimes the water was off without warning, too. Think about how stressful that would have been with a newborn child who was bottle feeding. Or how daily laundry was a must because clothes needed enough time to line dry. Or worse, dealing with stomach flu and not being able to flush a toilet.
Not having water was a major source of stress. In fact, I developed a quirk because of it. Anytime I would pass by a faucet, even when I was visiting in the U. S. or at a hotel on vacation in another country, I would turn it on to check for water. That’s because so often when I would do that in China, I’d notice the pressure was low, which meant we needed to hurry up and wash dishes or shower before it was off all of the way. I don’t recall the water being off for that long (more than a few hours) in Thailand.
About the only disruption we’ve had is that sometimes the power has been off. At our old place, it was over for more than 24 hours a few times, but we actually discovered why: a transformer had been damaged in a storm. In China, we would never find out why something was happening nor for how long. It was just another source of stress: never knowing when something would interrupt the routine of daily life.
Life in China was good training for moving here.
If holding a tiger didn’t cause culture shock, what will?
Any time I start to think of what I could be frustrated by, I remember what China was like, and then I realize how much better I have it here. So the comparison quickly causes any possible issues to fade. So sometimes people ask me if I had any culture shock moving here. As an intercultural studies doctoral student, I am well aware that culture shock is not a process that moves from one stage to another. Instead, a person can move in an out of stages and even repeat them. Any movement in and out of stages for me has been so minor it’s pretty much a non-issue. Getting used to hearing a new language, living in a tropical environment, and orienting to a new place to get from location to the other were almost non-events.
I don’t think I’ve fully integrated into Thailand, but I question if an outsider ever can do so (that’s for another post). Perhaps if I were to spend more time in rural villages I may find myself struggling with culture shock again, but at the present, we tend to live our lives happily in Chiang Mai.
Chicky Net – The social network for expat women living in Thailand