Once at camp, I found out soon enough that most of the staff is international, hailing from England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland and Australia. And soon after meeting everyone, we found out that there are plenty of differences between each other because of our cultures, which isn't a new concept whatsoever for me, but it was kind of a surprise. I mean, I was headed to work at camp in Iowa - a four hour drive from home, a place where they speak English, and in the States. But culture shock isn't a result of location, it's a result of the people you're with. And when the people you're with are from four different countries, it's a definite case of domestic culture shock.
First, it's the words. Everyone speaks English, mostly as a first language, but there are quite a few different, strong, accents around camp. It's strange, because it's not like the international staff has "bad" English - their English is absolutely perfect! But it's such a different English that I find myself listening in the same way I listen to Arabic - as if it's a second language that I'm learning. It's not automatic for me to recognize that "cheese toasties" means grilled cheese, or that "uni" means university, or that "loo" means bathroom. I mean, I know what all of the British equivalents mean, but it's not one at a time - when you're listening to a sentence full of words that you don't use everyday, you have to listen much more actively. I definitely can't just sit back and understand without focusing on every word people say. This might be a good thing though... definitely have to be much more engaged in every single conversation that goes on.
Secondly, food. When we're a group of people living together, we eat together, and so we talk about food. Kind of a lot. I'm not sure where I got the idea that Great Britain was essentially the same as the States (maybe because they speak the same language?), but food was the first thing where I realized that we had distinct cultures. I can't even remember all the foods that they've been talking about, other than this one restaurant that everyone keeps RAVING about. Nando's, I think it's called. Everyone just describes it as a Portuguese chicken restaurant, which I don't even really understand, but at the same time they can't understand how we don't have it here. They say it's as big as Chipotle, which, by the way, most of them have never tried. And then there are the snack foods, and dinner foods, and things to eat for breakfast that are just so different between the States and the UK. Apparently they eat beans for breakfast? Strange, but they were looking at our cold cereal for breakfast like we were nuts.
It's just really interesting to be in this situation where I'm still at home, but learning so much about different cultures, and also seeing my culture through new eyes. The list goes beyond food and language, we were talking about how different the school systems, and driving, and so many other things are. Even more, I'm hearing about differences between, say, Ireland and Scotland, from an Irish girl and a Scottish girl.
And the magical part? Nobody told me this would happen here - it's all a surprise. I thought I was just going to Iowa.
First, it's the words. Everyone speaks English, mostly as a first language, but there are quite a few different, strong, accents around camp. It's strange, because it's not like the international staff has "bad" English - their English is absolutely perfect! But it's such a different English that I find myself listening in the same way I listen to Arabic - as if it's a second language that I'm learning. It's not automatic for me to recognize that "cheese toasties" means grilled cheese, or that "uni" means university, or that "loo" means bathroom. I mean, I know what all of the British equivalents mean, but it's not one at a time - when you're listening to a sentence full of words that you don't use everyday, you have to listen much more actively. I definitely can't just sit back and understand without focusing on every word people say. This might be a good thing though... definitely have to be much more engaged in every single conversation that goes on.
Secondly, food. When we're a group of people living together, we eat together, and so we talk about food. Kind of a lot. I'm not sure where I got the idea that Great Britain was essentially the same as the States (maybe because they speak the same language?), but food was the first thing where I realized that we had distinct cultures. I can't even remember all the foods that they've been talking about, other than this one restaurant that everyone keeps RAVING about. Nando's, I think it's called. Everyone just describes it as a Portuguese chicken restaurant, which I don't even really understand, but at the same time they can't understand how we don't have it here. They say it's as big as Chipotle, which, by the way, most of them have never tried. And then there are the snack foods, and dinner foods, and things to eat for breakfast that are just so different between the States and the UK. Apparently they eat beans for breakfast? Strange, but they were looking at our cold cereal for breakfast like we were nuts.
It's just really interesting to be in this situation where I'm still at home, but learning so much about different cultures, and also seeing my culture through new eyes. The list goes beyond food and language, we were talking about how different the school systems, and driving, and so many other things are. Even more, I'm hearing about differences between, say, Ireland and Scotland, from an Irish girl and a Scottish girl.
And the magical part? Nobody told me this would happen here - it's all a surprise. I thought I was just going to Iowa.
I agree this kind of situations are always fun, we need to pay more attention to understand what they are trying to express , Also English is such a sick language with no proper logic and multiple accents , we need a better global language!.
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