Memories of Culture Shock

As I watched Kim Cofino's Original K12 Online Conference Going Global Keynote Post I was engulfed with memories of our first year as expatriates living on the tiny island of Barbados. Finally a topic where I am an "expert"! Culture shock is a phenomenon that I am well acquainted with. In August 1995, we seized the opportunity to experience life in the Caribbean on the island of Barbados. It was interesting to note Kim’s observation that expatriate families are often insulated from the country where they are living; we were living in a foreign nation but not truly a part of it. As Kim Cofino described aspects of culture shock, I recalled many of my experiences as embarked upon this adventure with my husband and three children. Bryan quickly adapted to the business community of Barbados where he was welcomed with open arms by nationals who wanted to learn how to grow their businesses and enter the global marketplace. I spent three hours a day driving my children to a private school which was based on a British model of education. Classmates of my children were transplanted from Canada, United States, France, Belgium, England, Germany, South Africa, as well as Barbadian nationals. Just as Kim commented, there were two groups of students...children of families who were temporarily relocated to another country and nationals who wanted their children to have an education that would prepare them to participate in a global community. She commented that culture shock, varying degrees of discomfort, can last months and even years; it took us a good year to become acclimatized and adjust our attitudes, expectations, communication and behaviors to adapt to the local culture. It took incredible flexibility to leave our comfort zone and immerse ourselves in an unfamiliar culture. We definitely learned new things about ourselves and how to interact with others. We were often thankful that the language of Barbados was English even if we couldn't always understand what was being said due to the rapid rate of speech and different accent. My children quickly picked up the "Barbadian accent". While experiencing frustration and challenges we were unaware that the impact of adapting to this new culture would energize and change us forever. The lesson that I learned that year as I attempted to emerge from the dark cloud of unfamiliarity was to always expect the unexpected.

In her presentation, Kim Cofino discussed a variety of variables she has observed while adapting to new cultures, particularly in Asia. I agree with many of her observations. We were always in constant motion, yet the pace of life in Barbados is much slower and often there was no awareness that a faster pace would be more effective. There was no customization of services; they did it the way it has been done for years and so need for change. At that time there was no striving to provide an individualized educational experience. The school did not see a need to adapt to change; there was a high resistance to change. I agree with Kim that education shouldn’t stop when the bell rings to send kids home. We sought to educate our children by traveling throughout the Caribbean while living in the area. Collaboration with other expatriates was effective in solving problems and learning how to adapt. We were aware of the need to blend our customs with the news ones that were were observing. I appreciated Kim's observation regarding blending of old and new and how this applied to incorporating technology in the classroom. We wanted to include new customs, yet maintain many of our traditions and values in an attempt to teach our children the "best of both worlds". I appreciated her comment regarding "just in time delivery" where new skills are taught as needed and in a contextual basis. Although many of our expatriate friends received "cross-cultural training" prior to relocating, we were on a need to know basis, solving problems as we encountered them. We were quick to pass on "advice" to new expatriates as they arrived to our community. I chuckled when she commented on the impact of the global community in faraway places with respect to familiar brands, and international bookstore and restaurant chains. It is interesting to note that Barbados is one location where McDonalds Restaurants did not survive. We had to rely on the locate chain, Chefette, for our fast food fix (rotis were often the choice of my children rather than hamburgers.) On a final note, since I have been rambling on while remembering...We did indeed learn to be flexible and to this day my children demonstrate a desire to respect and include others while embracing new experiences. They quickly adapt to unfamiliar situations and think nothing of navigating airports. My son is currently about to embark upon a study abroad in Australia, while my daughter ponders the options for traveling next year. After viewing the presentation last night, I asked each of them to send me an email summarizing some of their memories of experiences that impacted them. Since I found the comments shared in the video from third culture kids, I'll share these comments in a future post for anyone who is interested.