Weekly Social Media Post - Week 4

A whole month has come and gone since my arrival in London, and I couldn't be more sad. This week most of our group took a weekend trip to Scotland, I was excited because I had never been before. During this trip and this week, I started to feel more comfortable and "in-place". In class after reading about the U-curve theory, I realized that something called Culture Shock, finally went away. The U-curve theory is a model that shows what migrants go through in three stages. Culture Shock is at the bottom of the U-curve theory, and is a short-term feeling of disorientation, or discomfort due to the unfamiliarity of a new environment. At first I was initially excited to leave for London, however when I got here I was overwhelmed at how different everything was. I was incredibly homesick my first week, and completely lost and confused. I even at one point felt as if I was going through an identity crisis. My whole life I had said I wanted to live in England and make a name for myself here, but suddenly those feelings became the opposite. For awhile I had feelings of wanting to go home, because nothing here felt familiar. Over time this feeling started to go away as I went on more excursions and after class activities. It wasn't until Scotland, however, that this feeling fully went away. Being with all my friends on the bus, and having movie nights, to trying to see Nessie; it was the first time that I felt comfortable and that I could be myself 100% of the time. It was also the first time, on the train ride back from Scotland, I started to refer to London as home. And I couldn't be more glad I got over the culture shock.