Culture Shock! How Am I Going To Feel In Scotland?

Honeymoon Phase

The first phase of culture shock is the Honeymoon phase. During this phase I am expecting to feel very excited and in love with Scotland. I will enjoy everything that Scotland has to offer and I will not want to ever go home. I will find the difference in culture so amazing and enlightening. I will love their Scottish accents and some of their famous dishes to die for like the Apple Butterscotch Pie and Carrot and Orange Soup. I will love seeing all the beautiful castles and architecture and I can’t forget the breathtaking mountains and green fields.  I will crave to hear the sounds of the Scottish music and I will absolutely love to hear every story of history that the locals share.

Negotiation Phase

The second phase of culture shock is the Negotiation phase. I think this phase will start around my second week of being in Scotland. I anticipate that I will now begin to get annoyed with the new things in my life that at first I thought was amazing. I will begin to long for the food that I am used to, like my wonderful pizza and fries or even amazing waffles and tons of maple syrup. All the amazing foods that I would be eating back at home. All the Scottish accents will begin to get on my nerves and become annoying and I will be longing to hear another Canadian accent. The scenery of castles and rolling, green hills will just become irritating and will start to crave my normal scenery, like open fields and forests of Canada. Life will just become too slow and like I have seen it all before and like I am living the same day over and over. The sound of bagpipes and kilts will become too much and will want to hear my Jonas Brothers or even Bruno Mars again. To prevent me from feeling this shocked when I visit Scotland, I have been researching the types of food that is very popular here and have begun learning a bit of Scottish, so I know a little bit of the language and so I am not overwhelmed with difference in languages. I am also going to buy a Scotland guide that I will read on the plane, so I can familiarize myself with some of the customs, like making sure that I do not call someone who is Scottish, English. They will get very offended. Or even some of the different religions that are popular in Scotland like, Christianity.