I have realised what my problem was. I felt that during the past 16 days Oldenburg didn't seem to welcome me with widespread arms (so poetic...). People didn't seem nice on the streets, in class everyone had quite a competitive attitude towards each other, everything surrounding me seemed so disgustingly perfect: perfect shaped apples and grapes, perfectly clean streets and buses that arrive at the exact time they are supposed to (like, for example, 12:51). One time (and I admit it wasn't the wisest thing to do) I even threw my chewing gum out on the street to feel at home (I would never do that in Yerevan, but at that particular moment I felt like I should really do it, and you know what, it really helped).
People on the streets looked awfully unfamiliar. Most of the Germans are extremely tall, like twice my height or something. Sometimes it would irritate me, or make me feel intimidated. I felt like a small person in a big country. I felt lost.
Riding a bicycle was another thing I hated. Although I was very much excited about the fact that I would ride a bike to school, it turned out to be pretty lame. Since I wasn't very experienced, I was always the last person to reach the final destination, often times getting lost on the streets or simply not being fast enough.
I knew that riding a bike was supposed to make me feel free, feel the wind, and bullshit like that, but I didn't feel it. I was scared of accidents with cars, other bikes and people. I sincerely hated the bicycle.
Of course, I always knew that these were signs of culture shock, and it's not my first time experiencing it. And I also knew that I should just write about it and wait till it's gone.
And finally, 16 days later it happened. I have reached the stage of adjusting (more or less) to the new culture. I just woke up one morning and there it was: adjustment.
Of course not!! On the 15th day I realised that I will not be able to enjoy my time if I don't work on it. So I just woke up, and decided: tonight I am gonna overcome the culture shock.
1. With people it was easy. A small incident happened when some guy asked me out, and all my flatmates gathered in my room to check out the guy. Turned out he was married (seriously how stupid a guy can be to ask someone out with wedding pictures all over his Facebook page. Sometimes I just don't get people) and after that it just sort of happened that I simply started to laugh at what they were laughing, or talk about what they were talking, or cook a meal together. I turned out pretty fun.
2. I hated my room. It was too white. Reminded me of a mental house, which was kind of depressing in the mornings. So, despite the fact that I hadn't received my scholarship, I decided to go to IKEA for some shopping. The white wall that irritated me now has a beautiful sticker on it with beautiful pink flowers, the shoes that were chaotically put near my bed are on the bottom shelf, and the stuff like headphones, napkins, pens, scissors and what not, are now in 6 different-size pink boxes for which I payed only 5,99 Euro. I cleaned up my room, re-organized my closet. 0,99-Euro candles filled my room with vanilla smell. Joanna and Brunna kindly helped me put the sticker on the wall.
3. Exercise. I am not there yet, only because the regular badminton trainings haven't started yet. I bet that would be an interesting opportunity to make some of those tall Germans sweat (just kidding...).
4. German classes are also very important part. See, from what I have observed for the past 17 days was that Germans appreciate foreigners trying to speak the language even with a thin accent and obvious grammar mistakes. That for sure prefer it to the smooth English. So, I started attending German classes. I already knew some, so for me they are more like "Oh, I actually new this word..." type of classes. Still, very fun.
Today even riding that old bicycle to class seemed really rewarding. I was more confident, and for the first time I really enjoyed it.
Now, I have reached another staged: feeling really comfortable in the new environment, which can also have its side effects. For example, now I see "Armenians" all over Oldenburg. I stare at people I for some reason I start thinking that they may have Armenian roots or that they are also exchange students at Carl von Ossietzky University (where I study, btw). That's a different type of madness I am going through, haha.
To complete the ritual of overcoming culture shock, I made some really strong coffee for myself (yes, it's 23:40 right now), put the song "Born in Armenia" by HT Hayko (I don't understand how it happened that I started liking Armenian rap. Maybe its the air of Oldenburg) and started dancing. And even though I had 50-page reading assignment and a Power Point presentation based on that, I still sat down and wrote this.
Of course, I am not completely over my culture shock. It will be back in about a month or so (speaking from experience), and I will have to go through it again. But that's the life of an exchange student. I just gotta suck it up.
People on the streets looked awfully unfamiliar. Most of the Germans are extremely tall, like twice my height or something. Sometimes it would irritate me, or make me feel intimidated. I felt like a small person in a big country. I felt lost.
Riding a bicycle was another thing I hated. Although I was very much excited about the fact that I would ride a bike to school, it turned out to be pretty lame. Since I wasn't very experienced, I was always the last person to reach the final destination, often times getting lost on the streets or simply not being fast enough.
I knew that riding a bike was supposed to make me feel free, feel the wind, and bullshit like that, but I didn't feel it. I was scared of accidents with cars, other bikes and people. I sincerely hated the bicycle.
Of course, I always knew that these were signs of culture shock, and it's not my first time experiencing it. And I also knew that I should just write about it and wait till it's gone.
And finally, 16 days later it happened. I have reached the stage of adjusting (more or less) to the new culture. I just woke up one morning and there it was: adjustment.
Of course not!! On the 15th day I realised that I will not be able to enjoy my time if I don't work on it. So I just woke up, and decided: tonight I am gonna overcome the culture shock.
1. With people it was easy. A small incident happened when some guy asked me out, and all my flatmates gathered in my room to check out the guy. Turned out he was married (seriously how stupid a guy can be to ask someone out with wedding pictures all over his Facebook page. Sometimes I just don't get people) and after that it just sort of happened that I simply started to laugh at what they were laughing, or talk about what they were talking, or cook a meal together. I turned out pretty fun.
2. I hated my room. It was too white. Reminded me of a mental house, which was kind of depressing in the mornings. So, despite the fact that I hadn't received my scholarship, I decided to go to IKEA for some shopping. The white wall that irritated me now has a beautiful sticker on it with beautiful pink flowers, the shoes that were chaotically put near my bed are on the bottom shelf, and the stuff like headphones, napkins, pens, scissors and what not, are now in 6 different-size pink boxes for which I payed only 5,99 Euro. I cleaned up my room, re-organized my closet. 0,99-Euro candles filled my room with vanilla smell. Joanna and Brunna kindly helped me put the sticker on the wall.
3. Exercise. I am not there yet, only because the regular badminton trainings haven't started yet. I bet that would be an interesting opportunity to make some of those tall Germans sweat (just kidding...).
4. German classes are also very important part. See, from what I have observed for the past 17 days was that Germans appreciate foreigners trying to speak the language even with a thin accent and obvious grammar mistakes. That for sure prefer it to the smooth English. So, I started attending German classes. I already knew some, so for me they are more like "Oh, I actually new this word..." type of classes. Still, very fun.
Today even riding that old bicycle to class seemed really rewarding. I was more confident, and for the first time I really enjoyed it.
Now, I have reached another staged: feeling really comfortable in the new environment, which can also have its side effects. For example, now I see "Armenians" all over Oldenburg. I stare at people I for some reason I start thinking that they may have Armenian roots or that they are also exchange students at Carl von Ossietzky University (where I study, btw). That's a different type of madness I am going through, haha.
To complete the ritual of overcoming culture shock, I made some really strong coffee for myself (yes, it's 23:40 right now), put the song "Born in Armenia" by HT Hayko (I don't understand how it happened that I started liking Armenian rap. Maybe its the air of Oldenburg) and started dancing. And even though I had 50-page reading assignment and a Power Point presentation based on that, I still sat down and wrote this.
Of course, I am not completely over my culture shock. It will be back in about a month or so (speaking from experience), and I will have to go through it again. But that's the life of an exchange student. I just gotta suck it up.
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