A Dynamic Adventure with Culture Shock: Adaptation and Re-entry

Sr. Vocata

  In my own journey of studying abroad and in my international congregation, I can relate to the stages called 'Adaptation' and 'Re-entry' which are explained in the article about 'Culture Shock' by the Study Abroad Center of the University California at Irvine.  However, we can reduce and change the effect of Culture Shock with an open-mind and an humility.

Jon Kabat-Zinn said, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” I would paraphrase this quote by saying, “We can’t avoid Culture Shock, but we can learn to surf and to enjoy a new  world.” In the article, the author said that Culture Shock is an inevitable reaction and we face it when we live in another country. If we don’t adapt to the dynamic process of adjustment between our own culture and the new one, like surfing, we can’t learn how to enjoy the new culture as an adventure.

One example of adaptation I have experienced concerned LGBTQ, which means Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer. Before I entered the United States, LGBTQ was like a word from another planets to me. In Korea, we have also a lot of people who are LGBTQ, but they are remain a part by themselves because they are still rejected by the main populace. Furthermore, even though Pope Francis said, "If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them?"(2013), the Catholic church to which I belong as a sister still doesn’t approve by canon law of homo sexuality. That’s all I knew. However, after I arrived in Spokane, I have seen LGBTQ in a new light. As a sister of the Church, I follow canon law, but I also am one who believes in a God who loves every person with mercy which hasn't conditions. Therefore I meet every person without exception with an open-mind. For example, I know a woman who has very warm heart, and who has been focusing on social well-fair. I had a special opportunity to serve breakfast to the homeless with her. The reason that she is special is not her sexual orientation, but her heart and the value she places on life. From this special experience, I have learned to be open-minded.

When we go back to our country from the host country, we will go through a Re-entry phase, which needs careful attention because we have changed within the new culture. "One set of values has long been instilled in you, another you have acquired in the host country," the article explains. In addition, when we live in another country, our country has also changed, and its degree depends on the lent of time we have been away, I think. Our congregation, the Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is an international community, so a lot of sisters have been living in other countries, not their homeland. For at least for 3 to 5 years, we have to stay in a foreign land. I remember a sister who had a painful re-collaboration of her perspective when she returned to Korea. She said, “I couldn’t understand why the other sisters didn’t understand my opinion, although my foreign sisters had understood me and I also couldn't understand why I felt desolate inside that community. When I realized that I had to restart adapting to my new culture.” To her, this Re-entry shock was perplexing, but she acquired a new perspective when she approached the problem with humility.

In summary, we can’t avoid ‘Culture Shock’ in another country, and in our own culture when we have 'Re-entry' phase. However, if we face these challenges and recognize them, then, it will be easier to choose adaptation. If we choose to adapt, we will enjoy a dynamic adventure in the whole world.

Cite: 
http://www.hrc.org/resources/seven-quotes-that-make-pope-francis-complicated-for-lgbt-people