Troughs and Peaks

Within the field of economics, we're taught the simple business cycle. Economies experience very natural booms and recessions as they expand over time. I know I've referenced this model before, but I'd like to use it again.

You see, I have twelve weeks here in London; I will have spent two of them tomorrow. After finishing the first I realized I was finished with the most difficult one. It was over, and I survived! What a strange week it was, and even now I'm still working through some of the fall out.

I mentioned that I was homesick a lot, but my Grandma pointed out that what I was (/am) feeling might be more akin to culture shock. I guess that never quite registered with me because while I didn't know much about British culture, what I had seen didn't appear incredibly different from where I was from. What I didn't recognize was that culture isn't just a society's religious beliefs, morals, political affinities, institutional structures, etc., but rather how it lives. I'm a small town Midwesterner living in one of the biggest, most international cities in the world for the next 2.5 months. I wonder if I'd have experienced the same thing if I was doing this bit in New York. Probably would, I wager.

Ok, frustrations. I have to cook for myself! AHH! Unfortunately, I require a pretty high degree of aesthetics from my food, so frozen dinners every night ain't gonna cut it. *sigh* I have to have food orderly arranged on a dinner plate complete with vegetables and entree for supper. But making sure that happens takes time, planning, and cooking-- things I haven't done too much in my life. Great time to learn, I suppose, though. It'll definitely help for next year living in the duplex. I've been scrounging around on the Internet looking for some traditional English recipes to cook over the coming weeks, and I hope to make my own scones at some point.

Another one, the city. I grew up in Burlington, a town of 30,000, where you couldn't go to a store without bumping into someone you knew. Kirksville's no different with a strong 17,000 to its name. Welcome to London, population 7,000,000+. Good gracious. I've never ridden public transportation or walked to most of my destinations; now that's a regular part of my day. Walking on sidewalks means taking every other breath from fumes of cars whizzing by, and sleeping at night requires earplugs to drown out not only one of my snoring roommates (*sigh*) but also the tube trains running behind our flat. People are everywhere, literally. I simply have to forget that I dislike being in crowds and just go with what's happening. There isn't room to complain constantly. A recognition of how things are and how they affect you, yes, but you have to accept it 'cause there's nothing you can do to change it. Just take what you've got and run with it as best you can. I'm picking up my pace...even in this polluted air. :)

Before leaving for this abroad experience, Truman gave us a sheet with the troughs and peaks of culture shock. Me, being a genius, set it aside because I figured I was going through homesickness not culture shock. Lo and behold, after a quick glance over the paper I could identify with many of the emotions they outlined. I am at what they call "Surface Adjustment"; this state is a peak.

The change happened over the weekend. Monday night as I sat down to type up a blog entry, I realized I didn't want to. I wanted to surf the web, watch a movie on surfthechannel.com (a free site containing downloadable movies/TV shows), or chat with my flatmates. The feeler roots were out. After a week of pouring all my energy into establishing the boundaries of my pot, I finally had at least a small grasp on the edges, some small inkling of how to go about living here.

I don't have close people to share my experiences with as I go to all these cool sites, but I do have friends. I never doubted that would happen, but I know from Truman Week it's a hard process. It'll probably be difficult moving back home and then re-establishing at Kirksville in the duplex. But the cool thing is, I'm strangely adaptive. Within five days, a business lady stopped me on my way to class to ask for directions to a bus stop (and I knew how to answer correctly). My first day at the grocery store I noticed I kept on almost bumping into people. Hm, why was that? Ah-ha! They drive on the left-hand side of the road here, so as in the U.S., the people naturally walk on the side they drive. So I started walking on the left-hand side too. As I wrote to Hanna:

I walk a mile to class every morning, so I've purposely tried to walk like a Londoner to "blend in", plus it helps deter any ne'er-do-wells. Picture this: A stolid-faced Laura Beth walking briskly down the left hand side of the sidewalk, right hand resting possessively on her pin-striped messenger bag. She looks like she's walked the sidewalk a thousand times, but no one would guess she's constantly on the lookout for landmarks and has to repeat to herself "look Right, then Left" at every street crossing.

I know my way around my immediate area now. I'm adaptive as best I can be, but, as my Grandma pointed out, I don't necessarily recognize the shocks those changes cause. Because of that, I couldn't really begin addressing the necessary concerns of changing. As I've said before, time will change how I feel.

And as I wrote above, I'm beginning the ascent to a peak. This feeling is Surface Adjustment. Some days I'll look around and think "Wow, I really am in London" and ponder all the neat things I'm going to see and do. I get excited for the chance to be here. How amazing!

Thank you all again for your prayers. I still need them, but I am certainly seeing God's hand in my life as I fight hard to carve out a place for myself here. It's certainly getting better, and I'm much happier. See? This blog is on its way to happiness!

(As an aside, I'm currently watching Kate & Leopold on surfthechannel.com. Been wanting to watch it all week. It's nice to have a feel good chick flick. ;) )