Culture shock / el choque cultural

Hello! Last week, I visited my friends and fellow professors for a few days at Saint Mary’s to spend some time with them before I return to Seville (which will be in only two days). Since I have been home for the past month and a half, I noticed that I had not felt the so-called “culture shock” or el choque cultural until I actually visited my college. I suppose I can attribute this to the fact that I’m very comfortable with my family and due to that I am used to the regular schedule at home I did not feel the shock. Returning to my home home had not been a slap in the face in other words. Bear with me because I’m struggling to find words to properly explain my thoughts.

When I am at my house, my regular routine includes taking care of my grandmother who lives with us and taking care of my dog. My siblings and my mother are gone for most of the day participating in school and working at work, respectively. This is what I expected coming home, and it was no surprise to me. My introverted family does not talk about “feelings” either, such that we normally keep to ourselves when we are all home. Consequently, I hypothesize that this is why I had not felt anything “shocking” since coming home.

However, returning to my school for just a day made me realize this very real shock unlike anything I have experienced before. I would not describe it still as a slap in the face but more as an enormity of things that kept building and building up to this point where ding! your mind says, “I do not like the way this is.” For instance, I expected my friends to be busy with schoolwork while I was there of course since college, duh. However, they seemed to be overly stressed and exhausted just from the second week of classes. Professors and students alike were coughing from the flu they recently got over, and I saw a trend of bags hanging under eyes. Moreover, it was do, do, do. Constantly, I heard, “I have to finish this. Then that. Write this. Read that.” Those are just a few examples of the fast-paced environment that our college education imposes upon its students, leaving them sleepy and malnourished. Perhaps, this is an exaggeration since, again, I have so-called culture shock, but there just seems to be a lack of positivity. It’s as if you go about your life doing the routine you normally do, but everyone else has a different mindset, or, rather, you have a different mindset.

Where were the values of family, food, and free time I encountered in Seville? Back in the States, everyone seems to be concerned with work, school, or money. None of those are bad things themselves, but it seemed to be excessively weighing on the shoulders of students at my college. Plus, I have eaten so bad here. It’s my own fault really, but I realized that in my house we have so much more candy and foods with artificial sugars. I hardly ever ate any chips or candy when I was abroad because my host mom never had any in the house. I had to go out and buy it myself! For dessert, sometimes we had pieces of chocolate or fruits back in Spain. It goes to further provide evidence for America’s poor eating habits (or just my family's? but you'd agree right?). We spend a lot of time being exhausted and with being exhausted we want to eat comfort foods that will make us feel good temporarily. Also, I forgot how much I hate driving everywhere. That’s all you can do to get places in the Midwest! People in Seville are very active because all of the buildings are close together and the streets are small. It takes more time to use a car than to walk somewhere anyways so everyone chooses to walk or bike. I can recall meeting with a Spanish friend who had remarked, “Spain is not concerned with being a superpower like the United States.” Boy, how true is that.

Eventually, coming back to the United States gave me culture shock. For future study abroad students, it’s just something to keep in mind. You’ll experience it in one way or another, and no one experiences it in the exact same way every time. ¡Buena suerte!