Article on Culture Shock

Chelleyyyyy

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interesting

very interesting indeed!
i've never heard of these phases before, but i can say that on some level i could relate... my hard time came after i returned back to canada after spending 3 months in RD

i got sick within the first week and didnt wanna get outa bed for another week after lol .. i obviously worked through it but it was a hard time nontheless.
 

cobraboy

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Interesting.

I suspect that the more one exists within the trappings of their "own" culture the more difficult the final assimilation will be.
 

Hillbilly

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T, too, have written on this topic to groups of people that are coming to work or live in the DR.. Most are never here for long periods of time and that first smack in the face that says "This ain't Kansas, Toto"....is often so storng as to ruin the whole effort.

I figure it is better to be prepared....

Good article, and well worth the read...

HB
 

Acira

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Interesting.

I suspect that the more one exists within the trappings of their "own" culture the more difficult the final assimilation will be.

I kinda of disagree with that.
There is nothing wrong with holding your own culture where you have been brought up in most of your life.


Interesting article however.

Assessment for me : I am in Rejection Phase right now, find it very hard at the moment to live here, not really home sick but craving for some of the "good" things from home, missing out on the whole dogfrisbee season that is really going on right now in Europe where I spend years and years driving all over Europe to compete and then seeing the results of my fellow competitors and friends is not doing any good at all for me at the moment.

But I know me supported by hubby and friends and will get through it.
 

cobraboy

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I kinda of disagree with that.
There is nothing wrong with holding your own culture where you have been brought up in most of your life.


Interesting article however.

Assessment for me : I am in Rejection Phase right now, find it very hard at the moment to live here, not really home sick but craving for some of the "good" things from home, missing out on the whole dogfrisbee season that is really going on right now in Europe where I spend years and years driving all over Europe to compete and then seeing the results of my fellow competitors and friends is not doing any good at all for me at the moment.

But I know me supported by hubby and friends and will get through it.
Adaptation is the key.

The fact you don't want to adapt and yet are not happy is exactly the point.

The best place to embrace Belgian culture is Belgium.
 

Acira

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Adaptation is the key.

The fact you don't want to adapt and yet are not happy is exactly the point.

The best place to embrace Belgian culture is Belgium.

Adaption is certainly the key but not in the full extent of the word. Thats even for you an impossible thing to do.
Gringo, alway's gringo with your cravings for things from the US as well.

I don't believe in full adaptation because that means I should have to give up my history and nobody who moves to another country can leave everything behind.

Can be perfectly so that I don't want to adapt that much at this time but time will tell differently, I am sure of that.

Belgiank has the advantage of being longer from home as I am since he lived already for a year in the States so he went through everything already, I have not and find it more difficult.

Said that, there is nothing that stands in the way as far as I can see that I will not overcome this period.

And Belgium staying in Belgium? CB, you also DO love some Belgian beers you know ;)
 

cobraboy

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And Belgium staying in Belgium? CB, you also DO love some Belgian beers you know ;)
But I have "adapted" to Presidente.

There are a few things I pine over from America. I find myself finding reasons to NOT go back, and when I went back for a week...after two years here...I was very, very excited about coming back "home."

I am perfectly content and happy in my new home country.

But remember: my wife, her/my family here, my employees, most of my customers (the non-motorcycle venture), folks we socialize with, business partners, etc., are pretty much all Dominicans. In fact I have to shift gears a little when dealing with gringos.

I will Always be an American; but I need to be somewhat Dominicanized to be happy here.
 
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dv8

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i think i have not gone through culture shock, neither in the UK nor DR. i do my own small things to make life easier and, well, more livable :)

when i go back to poland... i think i get upset really easily. i never ever watch polish news because it makes me want to load uzi, stuff pockets with ammunition and go for long, fruitful walks :)
but gosh, how i love to shop there! :)
living in poland again? no. i'd rather go and try something different, something new. another place, another country, another nation to complain about ;)
 

Acira

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I really don't worry about "adapting" here you know CB. Its just a phase I am going through.
90% of our dealings in daily life being with friends, business, shopping are Dominicans.

Buts thats beside the point, I am sure that a lot of expats who are f.e. living of tourisme here encounter more non-Dominicans in daily live and still are very well adapted.
 

Acira

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i think i have not gone through culture shock, neither in the UK nor DR. i do my own small things to make life easier and, well, more livable :)

when i go back to poland... i think i get upset really easily. i never ever watch polish news because it makes me want to load uzi, stuff pockets with ammunition and go for long, fruitful walks :)
but gosh, how i love to shop there! :)
living in poland again? no. i'd rather go and try something different, something new. another place, another country, another nation to complain about ;)


Who said I was going to go back? ;)
 

jrhartley

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some people have only adapted in their own minds - but one has to humour them and pretend they have fully adapted
 

granca

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What culture shock?

I first visited here some 16 years ago it didn't give me any culture shock. Things were different but then I expected them to be. I only ever had one culture shock in my life and that was at 16 on my first visit to France, from over the side of the ferry boat at Le Havre we could see everybody shaking hands. My little brother and I decided that they must have all been on holiday and had not seen each other for a long time. Then there was the complete lack of orderly queues everybody tried to be first, then I understood why they had those funny ticket machines at bus stops in Paris. Stand up " inodores" and their smell!
After coming over here nearly every year then living here half a year and now for 5 years living here full time, I still haven't had a culture shock nor any desire to go back to live in the UK. I watch or listen to the UK news a couple or more times a week and hear of the mess they've been making of things with sadness but it invokes no homesickness except for important things like proper draft bitter beer, clean streets and to sit looking at the spire of Salisbury Cathedral.
I have now come to the conclusion that there is absolutely nothing shocking nor objectionable about the Dominicans that has not been brought about or maintained except by Leonel, his predecessors and their governments. No traffic rules are enforced, the noise, literacy ability, rubbish, in fact education in general are all ignored. Power corrupts, they say, and by jove its certainly true here.
To close - I love the place!
 

amparocorp

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i am still shocked at the behaviour of dominicans whenever i'm in their homes, always offered the best seat in the house, a large cool drink, with ice, a napkin wrapped around an ice-cold cerveza, a saucer under my coffee cup, i've found that leaving the saucer on top of the cup keeps the coffee hot and flies off, should you prefer it an hour later, this is before i announce that i'm only looking for miguel to fix a batterie. aside from living conditions, poor lights, lack of toilet seats (in nice houses), bad drivers, the heat, i must remember my emily post and be courteous...........in the U.S. it's "frankie ain't here, look out in the garage, see ya, bye"..............
 
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mountainannie

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i am still shocked at the behaviour of dominicans whenever i'm in their homes, always offered the best seat in the house, a large cool drink, with ice, a napkin wrapped around an ice-cold cerveza, a saucer under my coffee cup, i've found that leaving the saucer on top of the cup keeps the coffee hot and flies off, should you prefer it an hour later, this is before i announce that i'm only looking for miguel to fix a batterie. aside from living conditions, poor lights, lack of toilet seats (in nice houses), bad drivers, the heat, i must remember my emily post and be courteous...........in the U.S. it's "frankie ain't here, look out in the garage, see ya, bye"..............

This is SO TRUE!!

well said!
 

snoozer

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Very interesting article. I could name a couple of bars in Sosua full of ex pats in the "regression" phase during happy hour. Not the kind of place I want to be!!
 

belgiank

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I have wondered for a long time what I should answer here...

The original post is completely true... all of those phases exist... and you have to go through them, one time or another, or over and over again...

As far as I am concerned... it is quite simple... you decide to live in a new country, so this means you will have to adapt yourself to new customs, habits, foods, etc...

Will your new country be perfect???... hell no... for that you will have to die first and go to heaven, and even then (rice pudding with golden spoons as dinner for the rest of my days... even hell seems like kind of a nice place with bbq every day...)

I am a Belgian, and therefore I do miss certain things which I had in my home-country, especially food-stuff.... so I indulge myself and Acira once in awhile to Belgian cooking, or some nice French cheeses at outrageous prices...

I'm equally sure that a lot of the DR families living in the States or Europe experience exactly the same thing... and have cravings for rice and beans, plantanos, etc...

So, what is wrong about that???... It just makes life more interesting...

Yes, you do have to adapt to your new country of choice, but this does not mean you have to forsake all of your birthplace...
 
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