Cultural Adjustment Strategy

How am I going to manage stressful things in Peru well that is a great question? I will probably do what I always do shut down and try to figure out the solution by myself then once I figure it out in my head I will go and talk to someone.  Once I can figure out how to work in a stressful situation it will help me not be so worried about everything. I worry way too much about the unknowns and what could happen. I will look for the positives and not the negatives and that is hard for me because I can find any negative with anything. I will write down the positives so when I am stressed I can see the good things that have happened and not worry about the little things that don’t matter as much.

Honeymoon stage how long will I be there until I see what the world is like and then the shock of the excitement will wear off and I will go to stage two of culture shock. Culture shock I will try not to judge others before I give them a chance. I will try to see them as people and not just as project. I don’t think I will ever hit the humor stage because that is something that I struggle with in life because I don’t know how to feel when I get in a new situation it makes me nervous and I want to freak out and scream sometimes. I think I will start feeling at home when I stop worry about what could and what will go wrong because that is no fun for anyone and it just causes stress that I don’t need in my life. I am there to enjoy myself and serving others.

I don’t know how long I’ll be in each stage but it will be interesting to see. I am a little nervous because things out of routine drive me crazy but it is alright because anything is possible I just have to look for the good and not the bad.

When I get to Peru and with my group I will to learn to trust them and talk to them when I am struggling because I know that I won’t be able to do it on my own because I won’t know the language or what is going on. I know that my group and I are on the same team and we are going to become close friends for two weeks while we are in Peru. I am so glad that Lisa is going because I know her and I trust her. I know that I can talk to her when I am having a hard time because she speaks Jill and not very many people do.

When I want to give up and come home I know that, that is not an option because I when I was on my mission that wasn’t an option and my mom didn’t raise a quitter. I will just have to find the positives in the situation. I know that I can snap chat my best friend and that they will snap me back and make me laugh and make everything seem better and like it is going to be okay.

Being home sick is a way of life I will do what I did on my mission I will think about the moon because the moon that shines on me shines on my family. I know that if I can see the moon or the sun everything will be okay. Because it helps me know that my family can see it even though we are many miles apart. I will think of the adventures I am having and how my parents would want me to enjoy it and not be homesick because there isn’t enough time in the day to be homesick. I learned that fast the first time I moved to college.

When I get frustrated with the language barrier I will just try to stay calm and think about going on dates with Dallin and he is talking in Spanish and I don’t know what he is saying. I will try to pick out the words I do know and then use context clues to figure it out. I will also watch facial expressions because I know that you can tell how the person is feeling by how they look. I will be frustrated but I will just know that must be how the ESL learners get when they don’t understand what we are saying to them.

When I am tempted to judge the country or anything about Peru I will try to stop myself because they are just raised different than me which doesn’t mean it is wrong it just means they have a different way of seeing things. I will be grateful for all the things that I have in my life. I will grow a better understanding of them and of their culture. I will do my best to not think negative about them. They will be great people.

When I want to judge the country, I will just think when they come to America I am sure they want to judge us for the things we do but they don’t. They do what they do, and we do what we do. I will look for all the great things about Peru and how thankful I am for the experience I have to be there, to teach third grade for a few days. I am so excited to go to Peru and see how they live and to see how it is different from America. It will defiantly be an eye opener for me but it will help me be a better teacher. I will be able to relate to my ESL students better than I would any other way.