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03 Apr 2003
p. Since I've been back, I've been musing about culture shock. I'm not the world's best travelled person, but I've visited a fair smattering of countries, and even worked in a few for a fairly extended period of time: Italy, Austria, France, India, New Caledonia, and of course, USA. When I visited the first five places on the list, I did of course experience a degree of culture shock. The landscape, the climate, the food, and -- most significantly -- the language were all very different to what I was used to. But somehow -- because I knew that these places were 'foreign' -- I was expecting to find differences and the shock wasn't much of a surprise.
p. I realised when we got back from the States that I felt more culture shock going to the States, and I think that the difference is precisely that there is less difference. For Brits, America seems as if it should be familiar: we feel as if we know the landscape, architecture, culture and people intimately from films and TV shows. And the language is the same -- more or less (we still get jelly and "Jell-O (Jell-O museum)":http://www.jellomuseum.com/ confused when we ask for what we call jam, which leads to some funny looks). But there are slight differences which, like looking at fractionally out-of-focus images, give you a feeling of vertigo and a slight shock every time you encounter them amidst the familiarity. I began to feel a bit like Alice falling down the rabbit hole; there are Ford cars, but they don't look like the Fords we have in the UK, crisps (chips) look just the same, but taste slightly different, taps (faucets) don't work in quite the same way, and there are enough subtle differences in the language that you have to think before you ask for something.
p. To give you a perfect example, we saw a British woman in Orlando airport ask for "20 Marlboro Lights" (a perfectly standard request in the UK) in a Duty Free shop. We knew that she meant a packet containing 20 cigarettes, but the cashier evidently thought she meant 20 packets of cigarettes. Much hilarity ensued.
p. So, I propose a new term: 'culture tremors' -- minor "discombobulation (Don't know what this means? Look it up here)":http://www.bartleby.com/62/81/D0438150.html caused by very slight cultural differences that creep up when you least expect them.
2
It’s a hard time to be an American. There’s a lot going on I’m not proud of just now.
I think people from the States have the same cultural tremors you describe when we travel to Britain. I lived there as a toddler and have been back about five times. Each time there is a sense of home (Anglo-Saxon and Welsh roots tugging) and also a fair sense of bewilderment. (Why did that clerk look at me so funnily when I asked for napkins? Serviettes? What a silly term.) Why is it so hard to find anything that isn’t made with sugar?
Then there’s the never-disappointing pleasure of the Tube, the fun of having handling money that feels like real coinage, the solid comfort of a real English breakfast. My parents got to live in London again for a few years recently, and have been mourning for the place for the past year.
3
Lisa, I sympathise. I'm not that proud of being British at the moment either, but I don't feel the same degree of intimidation about speaking out about the situation here as in the US.
Over here, 'napkins/serviettes' is supposed to be a class distinction, but I'm blowed if I can remember which way round it is. So she probably thought you were posher than her/lower class than her [delete as appropriate].
4
Culture tremors is good. I had exactly the same feelings you mention living abroad. I have lived in Finalnd, south africa, ireland and france, and have just returned from 2.5 years in California (Silicon Valley). And America was actually the hardest to get used to. I talked to a number of people while I was there who either were English or who knew English people, and all said pretty much the same thing as you.
by dave murphy @ 04/04/2003 8:05 pm • Permalink •
1
i fully support this new term; it's even more evident when you visit canada [not on your list, so i'll assume you've not been there, but correct me if i'm wrong]. canadians are [sweeping generalisation ahoy] amongst the greatest people you'll ever have the good fortune to meet; they're the perfect cross between the britishness i hold dear and the innate coolness that the states [and i suppose i really mean hollywood and nbc et al] gives the impression of. if you spend a significant amount of time in canada [i had a gap-year there after a-levels], you at once feel at home and abroad; comfortable and excited by the differences. i haven't got quite the same feelings during my stays in the states.----- I haven't been there (I'd love to go), but some of my best friends have been Canadians. Now I know that in any country you get nice people and nasty people, but the funny thing is that I have never met a nasty Canadian person, and I have a reasonable sample size to work from.
Canada is also the only nation (apart from South Africa) that can display it's flag openly without seeming nationalistic. I'm reliably informed that it's illegal to leave Canada without having one prominently displayed about your person in case you get mistaken for an American.
by bsag @ 03/04/2003 8:04 pm • Permalink •