Is this a "social stress" or what ?
By pinkytabor
@pinkytabor (818)
Philippines
August 24, 2008 9:02am CST
We have just moved to the country of my husband six months ago. I knew not a single word of their dialect. I haven't fully embraced their religion yet. we have two babies, a 2 yr. old and a 1 yr. old, both hyperactive boys. Everything around me is NEW and i had to adjust with it - food, culture, language, lifestyle, manner of dressing, etc. Until now, i haven't adjusted yet and everyday i am nagging my husband to go back to my country. I had to stay in the house all the time. My husband is the one who goes to the grocery, buys things we need for the kids and the house. When around family members, i feel that im putting up a front, and that who i have become now is not the real me. I have to be covered all the time, from head to toe, sit with the women most of the time and chat about anything (which i can't relate to because i could barely understand anything they are talking about.) And all the time, i had to worry about my boys, who they are fighting with or perhaps they might hurt themselves playing with their cousins somewhere outside the women's living room because their mothers would tell me to "stay, sit and leave the kids (two yr. olds!) alone." This is a totally different world for me which i can not further explore. Am i just overreacting or this situation is really alarmingly stressful?
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1 response
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
24 Aug 08
I think the best term to describe what you are going through is "Cuture Shock!" and as someone who has had to readjust to several countries one after the toher over the last few years I can at least tell you that in time it will get much, much easier! The key is to try to find people in similar circumstances if you can because it helps to make the transition easier with a support network. But if this is not possible, maybe trying to be a little more accepting of the circumstances will clear your mind and make you more open to embrace all that is around you? It would be very, very hard to have even the slightest chance of attracting positive energy to yourself if you are always loathing where you are and pushing your husband to take you home! Sometimes forcing yourself to have an attitude change can make all the difference? I know it is hard to do but maybe worth a try? Good luck and I hope that in another 6 months from now you will feel entirely different than you do now!
@pinkytabor (818)
• Philippines
24 Aug 08
Thanks for the advise. I am still trying, very hard to adjust. Guess i am still in Culture Shock then, after six months of living here. But perhaps after another six months, i will be very very sick. That if i do not change, yes. I can only pray for now. I wonder if there are people, specifically women out there who have experienced what i am experiencing right now.
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