I feel like I needed the chance for some peace and quiet, since yesterday I had my first real experience of culture shock. Stephanie and I tried to ride the bus to UpTen to meet Dustin and Samuel before the first GUYS club meeting, but we got on the wrong bus and ended up taking a long tour of a part of Sendai we'd never seen before, in the rain. When we got to the end of the line and realized that we were definitely on the wrong bus, we tried to ask the driver about it, but discovered that he didn't speak English. Stephanie handled the whole experience really well, but I cried some and needed comfort food once we got back to familar territory (pastries help with stress, I think).
It was the first time I realized just how much of a challenge it is to function in a place where I can't read, write, speak, or understand anything around me. On both of my other trips abroad, I could manage at least a few words, and I understood how to read maps and street signs. Here, the words I know don't work for directions, and many of the streets don't even have names. It's probably healthy to cope with my feelings of helplessness early on, though, because that way I have a chance to get beyond it before the end of the summer. (And I'm sure the experience will make for a fun story to tell once I get back, or even now for those of you who are reading this from the States).
In other news, we're still settling and adjusting to our schedule for the summer, since we haven't yet had a 'normal' week (I'm starting to think we won't ever have a truly fixed schedule, but I'm willing to work with that. At least I'll never be able to say this was boring.)
Thanks for sharing about that (and sorry it took me so long to comment! ah!)
ReplyDeleteI would agree it's good to have the culture shock now rather than later, although I'm sure there will be more! I know all of my team hit a low spot around halfway through the trip, so if you go through that now....all the more fun later, ne? :)
Thanks for the comments, Susan. It's nice to know that I have connections with home while I'm far away.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the mistake with the bus is still our worst moment so far, for which I am very glad and grateful. I didn't expect so much rain, though (they really mean it when they call it the 'rainy season').