This weekend I think I experienced cultural fatigue...
Culture shock sounds like a big smack in the face when you arrive somewhere entirely new and different to all that you have known before.
Culture fatigue seems a better way of describing how I felt. Its all the small things that you're trying to juggle and cope with, all the compromises, all the new encounters, having to be constantly focused and attentive in every conversation - and then try and force your mind and tongue around the language it all just adds up together leaving you very exhausted.
So I worked 6 days, and every day I finished at around 7-8pm (except friday was 11pm!) and take an hour bus / subway back home... but the problem is that when work is finished instead of being able to switch off I have to remain engaged and alert - whether i'm at church or meeting a friend or even just with Eun-mi.
So to save you from the sob story I spent most of saturday evening after work wiped out and anti-social at church, and then sunday I got very frustrated over an incident where Eun-mi was feeling upset and overworked at church. But the good thing about incidents is that you have to discuss them afterward. So i'm feeling a bit better now, I'm going to maybe ask for 2 days off a week instead just the one and see what they say - and on top of that just try stay positive.
I feel like language is the key to all of this, I'd like to begin attending classes if I can.
SYMPTOMS OF CULTURAL FATIGUE MAY BE CHARACTERIZED BY:
- sadness, loneliness, melancholy
- feeling powerless or angry
- lack of confidence
- longing for family
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