Culture Shock

I'm falling asleep right now, but I'm going to try and write a blog post.

We talked about culture shock today. It reminded me of going on my Mission to Mexico and the terrible shock I was in for at least the first week. We got there late and I remember driving speedily down the dark, narrow streets, closed in by cement walls. People were still out and about and little buses went zooming by us in the oncoming lane. This was the original shock of coming to a foreign country. The second shock was waking up the first real day in my area to the sound of the Gas truck driving down a distant street, blasting over its loudspeaker, "EL GAS!" I remember I woke up and couldn't figure out where I was at first. It was all just kind of scary at first. Walking down the streets everyone spoke Spanish, and I could only pick out words and phrases here and there.
However, over time, I learned and became more and more accustomed to the location, the people, the customs, and the culture. With a little time, I began to take great interest in their language, history, food and stories and learned as much as I could. I found that with this attitude I was more humble and more charitable in my dealings with the people I met, and when they saw my sincere interest in knowing about them and their culture they were super excited and welcoming to me.

I hope that having had this experience in Mexico, I will be able to avoid the original shock just a little better, and will remember to show the same interests that helped me learn and make friends on my mission. Of course, India will be a whole new country with an entirely different culture, and on top of that, I will be entering both Tibetan and Hindu cultures, but I will do my best right off the bat to show my interest and to be as humble and charitable as I can with those I meet.

I want to learn a lot while I'm there, and I'm sure that as long as I have the right attitude, I will.