While it may seem cheesy, culture shock is a real thing, even in a country that speaks your language and is not extremely different from your own. While I am sure that students who study abroad to parts of the world that do not speak English and have entirely different values and practices have more severe culture shock, I think anyone can experience this in a new place. For me, the culture shock set in when I began comparing London to larger cities in my home country. I have been to Washington D.C. once and New York City twice. When I began to look at London in comparison with those cities, I realized it is much quieter here, even in the heart of the city. The citizens do not speak as loudly, the traffic is not as obnoxious, the people do not seem to be in a rush to get places … it almost comes across as peaceful. Coming from a culture that is very loud, and not always in good ways, it felt very relaxing to walk the streets of London. This was by far the most shocking thing to me, but there were other things that took an adjustment period. For example, I am not usually on my feet and on the go as much as I have been since arriving. I am by no means accustomed to public transportation, like the tube system. The number of times I was confused by what line to take and where to change stops was unreal, but now that I am leaving I nearly have it figured out. These are just a few of the things I can think of that were shocking, but there are many more that did not make the cut for this post. Another big issue for me was the exhaustion in the first couple of days. Jet lag is NO JOKE. I was unable to sleep on the plane and ended up being awake for 34 solid hours from the time I left home until finally going to bed in London day one. While this was not easy, it was well worth it to stay awake and experience everything I could day one. My message to anyone about to leave on a study abroad is first, do not be afraid of culture shock, it is normal. Just learn from it and soak it all in. Second, you will be exhausted when you arrive, but try to push through and experience as much as possible. You can sleep when you get home.
