May 9, 2018: Mental Preparation

Imagine this scenario: the trip is getting closer, and you find yourself nervously excited. We board the first plane in Chicago, then the plane in New York, and finally we arrive in Prague. Ah, the splendor! The excitement! The newness! We arrive at the camp a few hours later and you think, “Well, it might take some getting used to, but I think I’m going to like it here!”

The next morning, we head off to church and the experience is wonderful--everyone is so welcoming and kind despite the language barrier! You feel united with your Czech brothers and sisters after only having just met them and you’re excited for the camp to begin the next day.

Then Monday comes. The day is long. The kids didn’t seem as engaged as you had hoped. The language barrier is hard to get over and you feel like you have more enthusiasm than all the kids at the camp combined. Day 2, while a little better, is still a struggle and you wonder if we’re making a difference at all. It isn’t as easy as you were expecting to reach the kids and the exhaustion from all the activities isn’t helping. Suddenly home seems like the place of champions and you could go for a good apple pie right now.

Eventually, homesickness sets in and suddenly you’re riding the full-blown waves of culture shock.

Pourquoi????? (Pronounced, “por quah”)

(That’s French for “why,” by the way.)

While these types of experiences are completely normal, it is possible to make being hit by the “culture shock bus” a little less traumatic by doing some mental preparation before the trip.

First, go into the trip realistically. One day you might be like, “I’M GOING TO EUROPE!!!” and the next day you might be clicking your heels together and saying, “THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!” How do we avoid this? Expect things to be different and you might feel greater comfort when some things are the same. What things, you may ask? Well, expect that the food won’t be American. Expect the language to be nearly impossible to understand. Expect the kids to be a little less open and enthusiastic than what you’re used to. Expect Prague to be steep (ahem).

Looking at things realistically can drastically reduce the amount of shock you might feel when being taken out of your culture and dropped into another one. Another way to prepare is to let your mission team become your temporary sense of “home.” You will have 11 other people serving alongside you who have also left behind what they’re used to in order to serve in a new culture. We all speak your language, we understand your culture, and we probably like apple pie just as much as you do.

Lastly, consider bringing a journal in which to write about the trip every evening that we’re there. Processing your thoughts and feelings through writing can help you to overcome the struggles of being in a new place by giving you an unfettered outlet and the ability to be truly honest. When we get back home, you can look over these entries and see how God was working in you during that time.

So, with a little less than two months left before our trip, be sure to prepare yourself mentally for spending 8 days in another culture. Just as we make conscious efforts to avoid getting hit by real buses when crossing the street, we ought to take similar steps to avoid being hit by the dreaded “culture shock bus” when crossing into another culture.

Happy Wednesday, all!