Connection to my roots!
On the 29th of August, in 2004, at 9:00 pm I came to Calgary. I can say my first cultural shock on a Canadian city started when I saw Calgary from the airplane. Staring at the enormous dark blue sky juxtaposed the sprawl city; I asked my self what a quiet, empty of amusement place it would be! I was really shocked and scared that the city would have nothing similar with the city of my dreams!!
At airport my father’s friend came to send me to my motel. In our way, he drove through some residential areas to pick up his son from a party. My second cultural shock was to believe that lights of the residential areas are turned off at 9:00 pm. In the city that I had grown up many people starts their life at 9:00 pm! They go out for hiking, visiting friends or having dinner.
After a few weeks I found other kinds of cultural shock the most important of which was rootlessness. I had a very difficult time to find a room for my own culture in such a multicultural city. It was very weird for me that poetry, mythology, and superstitious are not mixed with the daily life of Canadians! Equally it was hard to understand why they schedule their weekends in the middle of the week and why having fun in the weekend was so important in their culture.
Asking people about their experience in a foreign country, I often realize that one big cultural difference is the taste of foods. Believe me or not, cuisines, the tastes and smells of foods are from the factors that one can claim giving her a sense of isolating and cultural shock. Cooking sometimes for me is the last chance to be connected to my roots!
At airport my father’s friend came to send me to my motel. In our way, he drove through some residential areas to pick up his son from a party. My second cultural shock was to believe that lights of the residential areas are turned off at 9:00 pm. In the city that I had grown up many people starts their life at 9:00 pm! They go out for hiking, visiting friends or having dinner.
After a few weeks I found other kinds of cultural shock the most important of which was rootlessness. I had a very difficult time to find a room for my own culture in such a multicultural city. It was very weird for me that poetry, mythology, and superstitious are not mixed with the daily life of Canadians! Equally it was hard to understand why they schedule their weekends in the middle of the week and why having fun in the weekend was so important in their culture.
Asking people about their experience in a foreign country, I often realize that one big cultural difference is the taste of foods. Believe me or not, cuisines, the tastes and smells of foods are from the factors that one can claim giving her a sense of isolating and cultural shock. Cooking sometimes for me is the last chance to be connected to my roots!
posted by Bahar @ 02:58
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