My squad and I just landed in South America after wrapping up close to 80 hours of traveling from Asia. Our flight itinerary included a 20 hour layover in San Francisco, and to be honest, my entire month in Myanmar was fueled by the fact that I would get to be on American soil after 7 months. I would get to hear English speakers, eat the foods I missed, and most importantly, shop at Target. I imagined that it would be a perfect day, and in some ways it was, but I also found myself feeling overwhelmed in a negative way.
I’m one of those people who really enjoys talking to cab drivers, so it was nice to be able to strike up a conversation in an Uber instead of just using 2-3 simple words if I had to give directions and then sit in silence the remainder of the ride. It was extremely nice to be able to ask for help in a store and get a clear answer instead of getting the run around from an employee who doesn’t speak English, but doesn’t want to tell me he doesn’t understand what I’m asking. I also stocked up on Doritos and Reese’s cups – two of my favorite snacks I haven’t been able to find overseas.
Despite the glorious walk around Target, I started to become overwhelmed at one point because these things that were once comfortable and familiar to me were actually foreign to me now. Getting in a car and walking around Target was no longer my norm and, at one point, I actually felt the need to cry – half from contentment and half from being stressed. Even though the US was my home for 27 years, it felt like a foreign land to me after a 7 month absence.
During month 5 in Cambodia, our ministry host informed us of the term “cultural stress” and we absolutely understood the sentiment. Your body and brain actually become stressed when you move to another country with a different culture because you are constantly thinking about how to do simple tasks. You are repeatedly thinking of which words to use in another language, how to cross the street without getting run over, and which hand gestures are acceptable to use without offending people. Even things like remembering my name and age took me a while to process. She said that it takes about a year for cultural stress to subside. On the World Race, we are in each country for a month, so you can imagine how stressful it is to assimilate to 11 different cultures.
After learning about cultural stress, I thought I would only experience it in other countries, but, boy, was I wrong. I had learned to tune out people speaking in other languages because I couldn’t understand them and I knew that if I heard English, it was most likely one of my teammates trying to get my attention. Walking around a store with hundreds of English speakers actually stressed me out because I kept looking around expecting that they were talking to me. I actually got a headache because I was able to understand and process everything that everyone was saying, which was information overload after being away for so long. At one point, I was walking around the store looking for a teammate and I once again became stressed because everyone started to look the same. I had gotten used to my teammates sticking out in Asia with our light hair and light skin, but suddenly all Americans looked and sounded alike – something I never would have thought before leaving.
Am I happy that we had a layover in the states? Absolutely. Am I nervous for the cultural stress I’ll experience when I reenter into American life at the end of June? Absolutely. I knew that a lot had changed since leaving the States, but I had no clue to what extent. My one day in the US was very eye opening and made me realize that I might not hold my own culture as tightly as I imagined and that I can survive, and even thrive, without it. This all being said, I could definitely use prayers for the next 4 months of the Race and for my transition back into a “normal” life when I come back to the States. I’ll also make sure to put out a blog in the next few months about how you all can help me with the transition. Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers!
