Author: Gabi Neuman

Location: Granada, Spain

Before I left on my study abroad adventure, I attended a few meetings last semester to prepare students who are studying abroad this semester.  I was told quite a few times about the culture shock cycle, which if you haven’t heard about, is a theory that describes the four stages of culture adjustment that a person faces when going abroad.

There are different takes on the theory and different terms for each version of it, but in general you have the honeymoon stage, culture shock, adjustment, and then adaptation.  To briefly describe the stages in my own interpretation, honeymoon is just what it sounds like.  You basically are in awe at all these new things, people, places, and all of the cool stuff around you. You can’t imagine how any of these things could be considered anything less than amazing.

A few weeks or months into your time abroad is when the downward slope takes place, moving you towards culture shock or frustration.  In this stage, things that were once new and cool aren’t new anymore and you start to see the differences between what you’re used to at home and how the people act here. You start to get frustrated with those differences.  However, it doesn’t just end there with this sense of frustration.  Gradually you start to adjust to this different and new way of life, potentially being annoyed with certain things, but also seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and the positive aspects of the culture around you.  This moves, then, into the final stage of cultural adjustment which is adaptation.  Essentially in this stage you have become part of the culture you are living in and may even consider it your own.

You might be wondering why I would describe the culture adjustment cycle.  At first when this cycle and these stages were being explained in those meetings I attended, I thought a lot of it was over exaggerated and that nothing in Spain could be bad because I would be traveling all the time, doing things I can’t do in the U.S., meeting new people, and all of that great stuff.  However, now I know that this whole culture shock/adjustment thing is real.  I am not saying that I’m hating anything over here by any means or that I’m not enjoying my time, because I truly am.  All I’m saying is that sometimes you just miss home and things that you don’t think you’ll miss before you go abroad are the things you miss the most.  So to share with you some of the things I personally miss:

  • Being able to go into the kitchen to grab a snack
  • Having less than 7-8 hours between lunch and dinner because midday hunger is a real thing
  • Eating not so extremely late at night and then going to bed an hour or two after eating (hardcore metabolism adjustment had to take place)
  • Living close/having access to a gym that isn’t packed with equipment and has a normal locker room
  • Real dessert instead of fruit for dessert (which is the cause for the hoard of chocolate in my closet)
  • Watching TV that isn’t just Spanish news
  • Going to bed early and not feeling like a “grandma” for it because your host mom and host grandma are still up
  • My own bed
  • Central heating (I knew about this before I left, but who thought it would be a good idea to let the inside of houses be colder than the outside all winter??)
  • Being able to communicate fluently and not think about what you’re going to say 5 minutes before you say it
  • Not having to ask everyone to repeat themselves 3 times which causes them to give up and come back to you in English
  • Wearing sweatpants/leggings outside and not standing out as an American
  • The internet working on a regular basis
  • Being able to watch networks like Amazon Prime or any other form of American TV
  • Free water & bathrooms

Honestly the list could go on simply with little, everyday things that I take for granted at home in the U.S. and don’t have access to here.  But again, in the big scheme of things these are just minor details of what it’s like living abroad and the fact that there will be good days and bad, there will be things from home you miss more than others, and at the opposite end of the spectrum there will be things you wish you could take back home with you when your time here is done.  I know this list might sound like a long file of complaints, but I really just wanted to put life into perspective a little bit.  Studying abroad for me so far has been amazing with lots of high points, but there are also a few lows here and there.  As a personal take away, I would say that studying abroad has not only opened my eyes to the beauty of different cultures around the world, but it has also shown me those things I take for granted and how much I appreciate my own country and where I come from.