Culture Shock is the name of a blog written by Kristie an expat who is living in Norway. I have mentioned her site in a previous post when she interviewed Bruce, an expat living in the Philippines. On Kristie’s site she interviews expats from and in different countries and asks the same questions. In her interview with Bruce she talked about his life in the Philippines through the eyes of an American. In her latest interview she is talking with Missy, a filipina living in Canada.

Many of the things Missy related concerning the Culture Shock she experienced I can attest to because they were some of the same things my wife experienced when moving to the US. Likewise there are some things that she talked about that I will not miss when moving to the Philippines.

Missy talks about in her first days moving to Canada she saw an elderly lady waiting for a bus. She said she was shocked to see this because in the Philippines older family memebers are cared for and taken places by their younger family members. This is one of the things I know I will appreciate in my older days. I know that my neices and nephews will respect me enough to take care of me and not feel I am a burden. Missy says at one point she knows she will take care of her parents because that was the way she was raised but isn’t sure that her children, which were raised in Canada won’t institutionalize her when she grows old.

Further on in the story Missy says she commented to the elderly lady saying “You are old, How old are you?” meaning it as a compliment. The elderly lady felt insulted and let her know it was none of her business. Now this is one thing I will have to get used to in the Philippines. I felt insulted the last time I went to the Philippines when one of my relatives commented “Uncle you are fatter than the last time I saw you”. She did not realize that in the US this was an insult and even though I knew she meant it as a compliment I didn’t take it as such.

Anyway I don’t want to steal away from Krisite’s interview so I will just recommend that you visit her site, Culture Shock  and read for yourself. Maybe you should do like I do and subscribe to her feeds so you don’t miss any of the posts.