Sunday, March 15, 2009

Culture Shock

Culture Shock basically is the disorientation or confusion felt when entering a different or unknown culture. Not surprisingly I experienced this when getting off the plane in Calcutta but I also experienced what is known as Reverse Culture Shock which happens when re-entering the familiar culture...well, I actually experienced this during our layover in Dubai which is located in the United Arab Emirates...the Middle East. Dubai is the wealthiest city per capita...mind you, Calcutta is the poorest city per capita. The airport itself is incredible. There are huge water falls, beautiful decorations and it is spotless. They even have reclining chairs for those long layovers. On our way home from Calcutta we had a long layover so we stayed in a hotel and had the opportunity to do a little sight-seeing.

The mall in Dubai is unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it...and I am NOT exaggerating. This mall has every restaurant you can think of...we ate at Chili's...and it was great! The most impressive thing about the mall was that there are ski slopes inside the mall. Yup, you read that correctly, ski slopes...in the middle of a mall which is in the middle of the desert!


Yes, Dubai is sweet. They pride themselves in being the best and having the record in everything. Dubai just built the tallest building in the world, has a building that is on the ocean and has a grocery store called "Safest Way"...that's right, not Safeway because that is American but Safest Way.

After being in Calcutta for 2 weeks and drinking instant Nescafe coffee I was thrilled to get a real latte and do a little people watching.

3 comments:

Ryan B said...

Haha. That's sweet. I've seen pictures of Dubai and it looks awesome. It would be crazy to be there. That is probably to most extreme culture shock ever. Crazy. Also, I love the new header at the top. It looks excellent. I'll be home in less than a week!

Tony C said...

I deal with a company in Dubai and love talking to the guy over there. He thinks all we do in America is watch dirty TV shows and drink 'the whiskey.'

Love your writing style...I'll be reading. God bless.

Anonymous said...

Heather thanks for your comments on my post on Married to a Youth Pastor. It's so funny because we graduated from the same college, ( I went to it back in SJ) with the same degree, and we both live in Nor Cal. and are YP's wives with a heart for missions. Fun to read about your India trips, it is culturally so opposite of America as opposed to other places you can travel. The biggest thing I remember was how close everyone always walked to me.
Blessings to you and your ministry!
Ashley