Getting ready for culture shock

Aside from the physical tasks related to getting ready for Africa, there's also the mental/spir'tual side of things. And a big part of this is being ready for culture shock.

Culture shock: the emotional, psychological, and physical impact of learning to live in a new culture, that threatens unconscious assumptions and challenges a person's ability to flex to a new way of life. 

The following is a list of various "symptoms" of culture shock. Take note though, it's not an exhaustive list:

- Homesickness
- Boredom
- Withdrawal (excessive reading, excessive use of electronics, only wanting time with other Westerners)
- Excessive sleep
- Excessive eating
- Irritability
- Exaggerated cleanliness
- Relational tension
- Chauvinism
- Stereotyping nationals
- Hostility toward nationals
- Loss of ability to work well
- Unexplained weeping
- Psychosomatic illnesses

As you can see, it tends to manifest itself in various forms. From personal experience, I tend to withdraw, to be overly cynical, to be irritable, and to be excessively tired.

So how do I prepare for that? I make a plan for self-care:

--> Figure out what helps me to rest and rejuvenate
--> Take a break before I'm completely drained
--> Spend time with the Father regularly
--> Determine ahead of time what coping mechanisms are acceptable (music, journaling, a nap) and what coping mechanisms are not acceptable (sleeping in, avoiding people completely, technology).

In addition to that, I try to consider possibilities: what do I know about Clove Island? What inconveniences might I deal with? What problems could I run into? When I can consider these as potential threats to my equilibrium ahead of time they have less opportunity to blindside me later. An expected inconvenience is still inconvenient, but it's not a surprise.

And then I determine that, anything which blindsides me also cannot upset me. It may perplex, annoy me, confuse me, frustrate me, or otherwise interfere with my preconceived notion of how life should be, but it will not make me give up or take out my problems on other people.

They say that palm trees are especially resilient in the midst of hurricanes because they have the ability to flex with the wind instead of staying rigid. This is my desire with moving to a new culture: that I would flex, shift, and adjust, but never break.

And finally, I have to view this as an adventure. As G.K. Chesterton said

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." 

Now it's your turn: what tips do you have for dealing with cultural stress? Ideas for self-care? Leave a note in the comments!