We discussed the different phases of culture shock in class on Monday, and those included the honeymoon phase, aggression and rejection, isolation and frustration, and finally acceptance and adaptation. Not all people will experience all phases of culture shock in that order or even experience all phases of culture shock at all. I think it is important to recognize what culture shock is, and how you as an individual are most likely to react to it. Then you can do you best to overcome and defeat culture shock, as well as be less of a burden on the group members and people you are living with.
More than likely I feel that I will experience the honeymoon phase, that being when everything is new and special and awesome. Following that I feel that I may experience a phase in which I may feel homesick or lonely or that the things of Tonga are annoying. I will do my absolute best to not allow culture shock to rule my attitude and decisions. One of my favorite quotes is by Victor Frankl, and it's that "the last of human freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances." Culture shock will inevitably be a factor in my field study experience in Tonga, in fact it is to be expected. And though it may affect me, and don't have to allow it to affect the moods of those around me. I can choose whichever attitude I wish, and I choose to be positive. To recognize that I am in a foreign place, that it is for only three months, that it will end, and that I will learn so much from it. I look forward to the experiences that culture brings and what I will learn about myself as a result of those experiences.
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