I have only been
asked this question a couple times since I have been here, but I have always
responded with, “I miss certain things about home, but I don’t feel homesick, yet.” I have been too focused on achieving my goals
while I am here to think about being sad.
I know the time is going to come when I am in tears about missing
America, my family, friends, and all the things that come along with being gone,
but I am not quite there yet. I am
thinking it will happen around mid-November, especially Thanksgiving. The thought of missing pumpkin pie, MSU
football games, and the colors of fall has already started getting to me.
After going through a couple orientations to get to my study
abroad destination, the topic of “The Stages of Cultural Adaption” has come up
a couple times. I am going to compare my
study abroad experience thus far to the stages that have been scholarly
published. I think many of you will be
able to understand how I am really feeling about my experience after reading
this!
WARNING: This post is
used to describe my study abroad experience and not to scrutinize the country I
am in, in any way.
Here is a chart explaining the results researchers have
found about the stages of cultural adaptation:
 |
| http://web.viu.ca/studyabroad/departsmart/modules/whileaway.htm |
So the first stage is outlined here is for the “pre-departure
ups and downs”. I would agree with this
concept because for awhile I was too busy getting paperwork done to be excited,
then I was excited for about 2 weeks, and then about 3 weeks before I left, I
was more scared and nervous than anything else.
I kept thinking to myself, “It is the Middle East…what happens if things
get worse in Jordan?” “I am going to be
missing so much back home…what if something happens back home?” “This program is so expensive, is it going to
be worth it?” However, around 2 weeks
before I felt an extreme high of excitement!
I couldn’t have been happier with my decision to study abroad and I
really felt like this was the perfect time to do it.
Once I arrived, my experience was lead by a euphoric sense
of life, often referred to as the “honeymoon period”. As soon as I reached the country, I felt no
sense of homesickness, and only complete excitement! Our program kept us pretty busy with
orientations and visiting the city, familiarizing us with the university and
customs. I also feel like I adapted
really well because I had been to the Middle East once before, so the initial
culture shock wasn’t present.
Once I moved in with my host family (about 4 days after I
landed in the country), I started showing pictures of my family to them, and
shed a couple tears. However, these were
more tears of appreciation, rather than homesickness. You really do start appreciating things in another
light, once you are taken out of a situation that you were once accustomed to.
Now, according to the chart and program representatives in
Jordan, I should soon be coming into the “Culture Shock” stage. They say it is about 1 month after you have
been in the country, and today marks 1 month and 3 days. Would I say I feel the “acute homesickness”,
as described? ….I would say I am not
homesick to the point where I have spent time crying or feeling like I want to
go home soon. I know I haven’t achieved
my goals here yet, and I think that keeps my mind off of any extreme homesickness. HOWEVER, I would DEFINITELY say my “euphoric sense
of life” has faded and my sense of NEGATIVITY about the country has kicked in!
It started on October 1, this past Monday, when I fell
really ill. I am almost sure I ate
something that did not agree with me and then in turn, became extremely
dehydrated. I ended up passing out twice
and the second time my host family found me and took me to the hospital. They checked things out and all is well now,
I am much better! Because of this event
and having been in the country for a month, I started viewing the country with
a “Negative Nancy” viewpoint! As I was
walking to school the next day, I started making comments about how I hate how
smoking is allowed everywhere here and is done in close proximity to children, how
the city is really dirty and people just throw trash in the streets, how Jordan
is the 4th poorest country for water, and about how health
regulations aren’t as strict as they should be and can compromise others’
health. Honestly I could make a good
hearty list of things that I am not favorable towards here.
Soooooo yes, I just
spilled quite a bit of negativity on this page….but I am doing it with honesty
and using it as an example of how my study abroad experience is outlined with
the common cultural adaption stages. I
am currently at the point where I can acutely point out the things I like
better about my country and home.
Most importantly, though…and this IS important.
I am enjoying my time here!
This is experience truly is something I could not get in the
classroom. I am learning so much about the
language, culture, religion, politics, the lives of other students in the
program, and about myself. I have
already begun appreciating things back home in a way I haven’t before. My program has also done an EXCELLENT job
with the academics here and the cultural trips we have been on. I will be writing a blog post about the
trips, soon!
Looking forward to the next few months!
Looking forward to the next few months!
Thank you for reading :)
