In October, I was able to return to the states for a solo art show in Decorah, Iowa and a visit home to Minnesota. It was a strange thing to be a visitor in the place where I am from. I was overcome with jetlag-induced joy when I returned to American soil as I followed the English-speaking security guard’s instruction on which line to wait in, and where to scan my passport. I’d like to share the experience of my first few moments back in the United States because it nicely illustrates the phenomenon of culture shock and reverse culture shock.
This is what happened: I got off a plane, waited in a line, approached a desk, the TSA agent said, “Welcome home, how long were you away?” and then I responded incorrectly for a while in a cloud of reverse culture shock.
The TSA agent was unimpressed by my paralyzed confusion while I tried to answer questions regarding where I was coming from, going to, visiting, and where I was from. The idea of “home” was swirling around in my brain, unable to settle in a particular place when he greeted me and asked me this simple question.
“Welcome home, how long were you away?”
I’ve been thinking about this interaction a lot because I was so horrified at how confusing it was to answer that question in the moment. I was expecting a different question, but if I were an American, living in America, I would have been expecting this exact question. Like always, a little sleep probably would have helped as well.
When traveling, I am so used to being asked, “How long will you be here?” that I think I tried to respond that way, forgetting that my American passport indicated that I am “returning home”. He seemed unsatisfied with my response, so I began to rapid-fire answers to possible questions that I thought he could have asked me.
I thought, “Was he asking how long will I be away from Budapest? How long will I be in America? What? Why is he not accepting the answer, ‘until October 23?!’”
I was stuck on how long I was going to be in the states, or away from Budapest, that I could not comprehend the question referring to how long I was away from the states. Finally I had to just tell him that I am American, and very confused, and am working in Budapest but visiting the place where I am from which is the states. After a clarifying question or two, he let me be on my way.
It was disorienting to hear the words, “welcome home” when I was on a visiting trip, and not returning to live in the states. My brain was oriented toward Budapest being my home base. The phrases, “I have lived in Hungary for one year”, and “I have been away from America for one year”, mean the same thing in this situation. I was on a trip, and trips usually mean new places. The more I think about it, the more I realize how tremendously confusing it was for me to answer this question.
This is what it has been like to live in a different culture. I come with a set of ideas about the way things are or predictions about how particular interactions will play out. Then, I encounter situations that are often times very simple, but I am caught off-guard because it is being presented differently than I would expect. The presenter does not know I am coming from a different place. In this moment, we can both think we are right, or wrong, or different, or misinformed. Yes, this can be quite tiring, but I am thankful that there is always something to contemplate because it happens all of the time!
This interaction was reverse culture shock, which is either an eerie, or exciting concept, depending on your attitude. I had adjusted away from associating the states with home, and toward the idea of the states being a short-term destination or a trip. Before, the states were the place I called home. Now, I am reminded everyday in Hungary that I am from the states, but somewhere in my brain I have gotten used to the idea that I live in Hungary, and am now perceiving the world though that perspective.
This may be more than you’d like to think about in regards to cultural adjustment, but it is so central to my daily life that I think it is worthwhile to share.
Thank you for checking in!
Artist Website: http://annalcarlson.weebly.com/
Pictures from the show will be posted soon!
Pictured: A photo with the ArtHaus gallery managers, in front of my main installation at the Up Next solo-exhibtion.