The U Curve of Cultural Adaptation

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

So, I came across a really interesting framework that describes what happens to almost all individuals when they go to live in another culture. It exactly describes my experience in Taiwan, but it seems that I haven’t exactly reached the end of the curve…

Article: ww2.odu.edu/ao/oip/studyabroad/r … stment.pdf

  1. The Honeymoon Stage - We all know and love this stage; it’s what traveling is all about.

  2. The Conflict Stage - Common thoughts in this stage: We would never do that in my country! Why can’t they just ___? These people are so ___!

  3. The Critical Stage - Common thoughts: Why shouldn’t they do that? We do that too, but differently.

  4. The Recover Stage - Common thoughts: You don’t understand them like I do. I’m beginning to like this.

Other texts frame it this way: honeymoon, hostility, humour, feeling at home

I must say, after about six years on-and-off in Taiwan, I am feeling at home, but still, I have lots of hostility + humour, and still a bit of honeymoon.

What are your thoughts? How long have you guys been in Taiwan? How long did each stage take you? What stage are you at now, and is anyone out there totally in the last stage, as if this place has been your home your whole life?! I really want to know…

2

The stages you described are a perversion of the cycle of domestic violence

3

Mmm, it is indeed a complex procedure.
I would rename the Title “The U-bend of Cultural Adaptation”.

4

I would say most people on Forumosa fall under step 2 but think they fall under step 4. :smiley:

5

Where’s the “Surrender To The Void” Stage?
:ponder:

6

This is where I always pop up in discussions like that kid from next door who cannot keep his mouth shut and always interrupts a serious conversation. What am I always saying? Ah yes:
There have been quite a few discussions like this over the years and many people seemed to have an agreement to make it something like a 4-phase model.

Mostly the end result of the discussion had looked like that:

Phase-1: Loving it, vacation mood
Phase-2: Hatred (things being different get to you)
Phase-3: Adjustment (acceptance, avoiding what you do not like, seeking what you like)
Phase-4: Becoming Taiwanese OR loving-it OR The-great-void***

Remarkable actually to compare this on-the-fly model to a more academic one as posted by the OP.

My phase 1 lasted a few months, phase 2 several years, partially based on health reasons (years of itching :doh:), phase 3 is now, in year 9, somewhat blending into phase 4 I guess. Because I feel so relaxed most of the time. Carefree. Indifferent.

*** what TheGingerMan said

Not everybody has phase 2 it seems, people who seek out Taiwan strongly (not just came here for a girl or so) for very specific reasons or because they strongly wanted to avoid something back home seem to skip it.

Sound like material for some intercultural academic thesis if analyzed correctly…

7

I second that not everyone has a phase 2… and I think VERY few people have a phase 4, but that could be because so many leave before they have a chance to reach it.

8

[quote=“bob_honest”]This is where I always pop up in discussions like that kid from next door who cannot keep his mouth shut and always interrupts a serious conversation. What am I always saying? Ah yes:
There have been quite a few discussions like this over the years and many people seemed to have an agreement to make it something like a 4-phase model.

Mostly the end result of the discussion had looked like that:

Phase-1: Loving it, vacation mood
Phase-2: Hatred (things being different get to you)
Phase-3: Adjustment (acceptance, avoiding what you do not like, seeking what you like)
Phase-4: Becoming Taiwanese OR loving-it OR The-great-void***

Remarkable actually to compare this on-the-fly model to a more academic one as posted by the OP.

My phase 1 lasted a few months, phase 2 several years, partially based on health reasons (years of itching :doh:), phase 3 is now, in year 9, somewhat blending into phase 4 I guess. Because I feel so relaxed most of the time. Carefree. Indifferent.

*** what TheGingerMan said

Not everybody has phase 2 it seems, people who seek out Taiwan strongly (not just came here for a girl or so) for very specific reasons or because they strongly wanted to avoid something back home seem to skip it.

Sound like material for some intercultural academic thesis if analyzed correctly…[/quote]

Ahh… I never participated in those discussions, but they line up perfectly. Of course, academics get their frameworks from analyzing real people sharing their feelings/experiences.

What is “the great void”? Please explain this feeling to me…

I wish I didn’t have a Phase 2, but I did, and it was as long as bob_honest’s! Right now, in my sixth year (on-and-off living between here and Canada), I feel I’m between Phase 3 and 4.

Another thought I had was, do people moving from a less-chaotic country into a more-chaotic country experience a lot more of Phase 2? Whereas someone making the move from more-chaotic to less-chaotic experiences very little or no Phase 2?

9

The idea of chaotic seems relative. Anywhere buereacracy and immigration pressures exist I would call chaotic, and by that token anyone moving anywhere would be stressed out.

10

I think if you have been on the rock for over 20 years you are essentially partially taiwanese as the human body supposedly is brand new every 7 years?

You may not want to admit it thats all.

11

Yeah, it is said that this phase 4 thing might be happening after 10 years or longer. Do not think I am really there though. However I stopped caring about much and just accept stuff like it is. Like seeing accident victims and passing by, do not get angry anymore when encountering aggressive driving. But not yet phase 4 I have to admit.

12

[quote=“tommy525”]I think if you have been on the rock for over 20 years you are essentially partially taiwanese as the human body supposedly is brand new every 7 years?

You may not want to admit it thats all.[/quote]

You’ve got a point there…

Maybe you are in Phase 4? You just revert back to earlier phases in specific instances… haha…

I also feel it’s like this. If something bad happens to you in your home country, the only thing you can think is, “Curse that person!” But, if something bad happens to you in another country, you may have the tendency to think, “Curse this place and its people!” Once you start cursing individuals, instead of entire nations, then I think you’re in Phase 4.

13

Well said!

14

I’ve been aware of this 4-step cultural adaption cycle for about 6 years. I didn’t pay much notice at that time, but after 10 years in Taiwan I find it to be surprisingly accurate. When I first heard of it, I also heard that the first stage lasts about 2 months, the second period about 3~5 years, and after 10 years+ you may find yourself in stage 4.

I think I saw myself being at stage 3 about 4 years ago. That’s when I stopped cursing the scooters, and started to think that if all these scooter drivers drove cars instead, it would be even more polluted here, and the traffic would be crazy. And I also started to appreciate the wet markets with their abundant selection of cheap fruits and vegetables the whole year. I can truly see advantages in Taiwan that I did not see in the first few years here.

I’m not at stage 4 yet. I’m not sure if I really want to go to stage 4 as that’s when Taiwan is more at home to you than the place you came from. But after 10 years you start to realize that you may not be here temporarily. You’re not just visiting. You’re an immigrant.

People stop complimenting you on your Chinese after this long, as it better be good after you’ve spent 10 years learning it. Your kids speak Chinese better than your language, and you start to pick up on Chinese customs like not drinking cold water. At 10 years you really start thinking that you better get off this island, or you’re really going to stay here the rest of your life. Especially for those that haven’t picked up the language, this can be a frightening prospect.

15

I’ve seen this kind of study before, before, also read about a kind of depression that exchange student will feel after going back to their home countries (and this is what pushed me back to Taiwan too).

I had phase 2. I think I’m in phase 3 mostly now. However, there are days when I’m all back in phase 2 and days when I reach the phase 4.

I wonder if the phase 4 need to mean the love to country. I mean, can you kind of accept what is the country, and decide to leave? wouldn’t that be also phase 4? To get your final understanding, and make a decision (stay or not). And I’m not saying leave because you hate it, but leave because after all this years, you see that this “relationship” is not working out well for you two, no hard feeling. Because I’m thinking this might be my Phase 4 in the future. But maybe because recently I am a little pushed back to Phase 2 again :unamused:

16

[quote=“mukashi”]
I wonder if the phase 4 need to mean the love to country. I mean, can you kind of accept what is the country, and decide to leave? wouldn’t that be also phase 4? To get your final understanding, and make a decision (stay or not). And I’m not saying leave because you hate it, but leave because after all this years, you see that this “relationship” is not working out well for you two, no hard feeling. Because I’m thinking this might be my Phase 4 in the future. But maybe because recently I am a little pushed back to Phase 2 again :unamused:[/quote]

My understanding of phase 4 is that you prefer your new country over your home country in this phase. Having been away from your home country for too long, you may start to fear the reverse culture shock you will get when you return to your home country.

17

[quote=“mukashi”]I’ve seen this kind of study before, before, also read about a kind of depression that exchange student will feel after going back to their home countries (and this is what pushed me back to Taiwan too).

I had phase 2. I think I’m in phase 3 mostly now. However, there are days when I’m all back in phase 2 and days when I reach the phase 4.

I wonder if the phase 4 need to mean the love to country. I mean, can you kind of accept what is the country, and decide to leave? wouldn’t that be also phase 4? To get your final understanding, and make a decision (stay or not). And I’m not saying leave because you hate it, but leave because after all this years, you see that this “relationship” is not working out well for you two, no hard feeling. Because I’m thinking this might be my Phase 4 in the future. But maybe because recently I am a little pushed back to Phase 2 again :unamused:[/quote]

Please explain this depression that exchange students get?

After my first year in Taiwan, I went back to Canada for a year and couldn’t wait to get back. Then, after three more years in Taiwan, I couldn’t wait to get back to Canada. And after two more years in Canada, couldn’t wait to get back to Taiwan. Now… well… I live in Kaohsiung now and life here is great!

18

Well said![/quote]

Thank-you.

However, I still sometimes curse the entire nation of Taiwan (the Chinese culture, to be more specific). I think I’ve passed this habit onto my wife, and she’s Taiwanese!

19

[quote=“elburro”][quote=“mukashi”]
I wonder if the phase 4 need to mean the love to country. I mean, can you kind of accept what is the country, and decide to leave? wouldn’t that be also phase 4? To get your final understanding, and make a decision (stay or not). And I’m not saying leave because you hate it, but leave because after all this years, you see that this “relationship” is not working out well for you two, no hard feeling. Because I’m thinking this might be my Phase 4 in the future. But maybe because recently I am a little pushed back to Phase 2 again :unamused:[/quote]

My understanding of phase 4 is that you prefer your new country over your home country in this phase. Having been away from your home country for too long, you may start to fear the reverse culture shock you will get when you return to your home country.[/quote]

Phase 5 (I made it up) is the ability to move between places, appreciating the good stuff and accepting the failings of both. Developing the ability to move around the world with enough self-awareness to both not freak out in the latest place or reject the previous place you lived because the new place is your latest utopian Shangri-啦.

20

[quote=“Ermintrude”][quote=“elburro”][quote=“mukashi”]
I wonder if the phase 4 need to mean the love to country. I mean, can you kind of accept what is the country, and decide to leave? wouldn’t that be also phase 4? To get your final understanding, and make a decision (stay or not). And I’m not saying leave because you hate it, but leave because after all this years, you see that this “relationship” is not working out well for you two, no hard feeling. Because I’m thinking this might be my Phase 4 in the future. But maybe because recently I am a little pushed back to Phase 2 again :unamused:[/quote]

My understanding of phase 4 is that you prefer your new country over your home country in this phase. Having been away from your home country for too long, you may start to fear the reverse culture shock you will get when you return to your home country.[/quote]

Phase 5 (I made it up) is the ability to move between places, appreciating the good stuff and accepting the failings of both. Developing the ability to move around the world with enough self-awareness to both not freak out in the latest place or reject the previous place you lived because the new place is your latest utopian Shangri-啦.[/quote]

In other words just behaving like an adult.