Funny Culture Shock Moments at Home: Adjusting and Adapting after Living Abroad

Posted by Suzanne Swartz Mar 8, 2009

At supermarkets in Germany and Austria, customers must bag their own groceries...fast. And with not much counter space to accomplish the task. Basically, grocery shopping in Germany or Austria is kind of like a fire drill...once you buy your stuff, you need to get out of there as fast as you can.

When I got back to the United States, went grocery shopping, and started to stuff my purchases into those flimsy plastic bags, the cashier raised an eyebrow and said, "Uh, what are you doing? I'll get that for you."

Huh?

Reverse culture shockinstances like this can happen after returning from a stint in another country. In addition to thinking it's weird to hear English spoken all around you, you may experience symptoms such as something I'll call automatic replies. Here's a scenario to illustrate: A waiter brings you your drink and you respond with some sort of verbal mess that is a weird mix between thank you and danke. Oops.

These "automatic replies" occur when you have to say something in your native language that you've become extremely accustomed to saying in another language, i.e. simple requests and responses like "please," and "thank you." Little things like that may take some getting used to. Also be ready to look at your home country's currency like it's play money, think road signs and license plates are unfamiliar, and be clueless as to whether the price of toothpaste is reasonable or ridiculous.

So prepare yourself for those sorts of things when returning from a foreign country. And when people stare at you like you're crazy, be ready to have a sense of humor about it and laugh it off! That's the best advice about culture shock that I can give. Appreciate the fact that you know a different way to say or do something, and be open to other cultures' habits, too.