This is the last of this set in this series of posts. I have more on a Windows Live Blog and a few more in Blogspot, but I haven't decided if I want to repost those yet or not because I've linked to those blogs in the about section of this website and they're much easier to find than my posts over at DalianXpat. Anyway, this post was originally typed out in March of 2007, I had just read something saying that there are 4 steps Xpats go through when acclimating to a new country/culture.

I have been told that there are 4 stages to adjusting to a new culture.

1. Honeymoon - just like the marriage honeymoon, the new place is great and perfect and you love it so much

2. Hostility - the differences and the imperfections of the new place start to set in and every little thing makes you angry and question the "stupidity"

3. Humor - your tired of getting angry at everything, so you just make fun of it and laugh at the "stupidity"

4. Home - not in the sense that it replaces your native culture, but you have accepted it and learned enough about it to call it home when people ask

I was told the whole process usually takes 2 to 3 years. Myself, I never had a honeymoon stage. My first day here, I was left in my apartment with no RMB, no translator, and no idea of how or where to get anything, so the hostility set in pretty fast. After a year, I'm kind of fluctuating between hostility and humor.

Well, it's 2 years and 8 months after that post and I still find myself stuck in the same rut with one small exception ... sometimes I'm just angry at everything, other times I just can't help but laugh, but I have been catching myself calling this place "home" from time to time. However, when I do say home, I quickly add "Home in terms of where I live, it will never be home in terms of 'home is where your heart is.'"