This is about 99.9% of what I've been going through in the last 5 weeks

30 Dec 2007 at 13:09
8 comments

I tried to copy and paste from this Canadian website with info about culture shock - but you can take a look at the website yourself if you are interested. For various reasons, which I don't want to go into openly on this blog, its been an incredibly, painful, difficult and scary time.

But slowly I am adjusting and I feel blessed to be in such a beautiful city as Melbourne at this time of year - 2007 has been a toughie overall and I wonder sometimes 'What will happen next?' Let's see I guess.

8 comments

Comments

Interesting! I did chuckle at the one about trying not to speak the host language - which led me to a question. Us Brits have a prejudice that we and the Americans seemingly both speak English but can often seem divided by a common language. I'm told by an Ozzie-Kiwi husband and wife couple I know (incidentally also just relocated to Melbourne - and who worked before that with Victoria who you've met) that there isn't that divide between either country and indeed us (apart from the inevitable tittering when our Oz secondees at work first ask for durex from the stationery store...)

My favourite was being told by a colleague at my new workplace in Australia not to wear thongs on the job.

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/cultureshock-stages.html

You'll be fine. Just give it time. At least you're not from a Non-English Speaking Background, which would have made things heaps harder. You've pretty much gone stgraight to Stage 2 (Withdrawal). You'll very quickly get to Stage 3 (Adjustment) and then finally arrive at Stage 4 (Acceptance). I daresay once your housing needs are sorted, things will start to feel more settled.