Today's lesson was about culture shock and cultural adaptation. In the beginning of the lesson we took a look at a site made by Berkeley, University of California. On this site (https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/living/cultural) we saw an example of how cultural adjustment works in the city of Berkeley, California, U.S. It states on the site that "despite this cosmopolitan orientation, if you are new in town, you may still feel like a stranger in a land", no matter of your background.
I've moved a couple of times myself, therefore I could relate to this. I've also done the change of first moving out of my town and later coming back. In my experience, even when you recognize the surrounding area, you speak the language and know the place names, it doesn't feel like home anymore.
I remember when I was living in Vancouver, Canada, for seven months, I was fully adjusted to the city (of course this didn't happen overnight either), had friends, a job and a place to live. Then I moved out of my apartment and quit my job to travel for awhile (before returning to Finland) and came back to Vancouver for a few weeks in between my traveling, it wasn't my home anymore. I was already used to various people in my life to leave the city since quite many of them were from somewhere else too, but when I myself left, it was a different story.
I didn't have an apartment anymore.
I didn't have a job anymore.
I still had friends and acquaintances, I knew the Downtown by heart. Yet I felt more like home when I was traveling with a friend and continuously moving around, rather than just staying in Vancouver. In a way that was also a good thing. I felt like I was finally ready to leave the city and go back to my "home country".
When I finally got out of the plane in Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, I was not home either. My family came to pick me up and in that moment I hadn't been gone for nine months.
When we got to our car and were driving back home, I remember looking outside and feeling distant. I was never ashamed to be from Finland, but yet never missed being here. Even in my travelings when we had a few complications, I would miss my home in Vancouver, not in Finland. I know this country will forever be in my life, even if I wouldn't live here. I think I will always have a part of my life belonging here.
After awhile, I was more comfortable being back here - even though after now that I've been back for almost three months, I still miss traveling. As time went by, I found myself moving again. This time inside of Finland.
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