Are you feeling homesick, yet?

 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 4^th 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!

Thank you for reading :)