Anyone can tell you that adjusting to a new place takes time. It takes even longer when you are in a new country and culture. In fact, there is a whole science to explain the ebbs and flows one faces while adjusting to a new culture. Many of you may be familiar with the culture shock (cultural adjustment) curve describing the various stages of the intercultural journey… For those less familiar, it is a squiggly line explaining the highs and lows of leaving your comfort zone.

For some this journey is dramatic. Call me a sage, a pro, emotionally desensitized or acutely self-aware, but it appears that a lifetime of international travel and living abroad has resulted in more subtle ebbs and flows. This means that I am less reactive to my new surroundings: my honeymoon period is less “wows and OMGs” in amazement and bewilderment and more “cools,” usually because I have seen something similar before. Similarly, my culture shock is less severe: it may last mere minutes or hours rather than days, weeks or months. In fact, sometimes I am not aware that I have been affected by an incident until various issues have accumulated and I burst with a confusing mixture of emotional responses: angry outbursts, tears, uncontrollable laughter. Needless to say, it is not an attractive look.

Continue reading How time flies… A month in Uganda! →