Post-Culture Shock and Pre-Culture Shock

Yesterday I returned from a 38 day canoe trip along the Dubawnt and Thelon Rivers that run through the Barren Lands in the Canadian provinces of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It was an incredible experience and it will stay with me for a lifetime. The most difficult aspect of the trip was ensuring good group dynamics within the 8-man group I was traveling in. Never have I ever spent so much time with the same group of people before. We were together for all 38 days as well as the 10 days of travel and preparation before and after the main content. This may not seem like a big deal. However, unlike attending school or work or even living within your household, we were together 24 hours a day. I'm sure if we were given the choice we may have taken a break from one another's company for a brief amount of time just to get some fresh air. Because of the forced closeness, we had to learn to get along no matter what someone says or does. I have never been closer to anyone than I am now to these 7 guys. Without any interactions with other people, you get to know your group-mates very well. If they say something, you know exactly what it means without question.

At the end of our trip, we entered Baker Lake, Nunavut; a town of five thousand people. Our interactions with the people there were not much different than what we had as a group, with respect to the fact that we had only seen 7 other faces for the last 38 days. Everyone living in the conditions of the arctic must interact in a similar way that we did to be able to survive. They are all extremely kind people that will go far out of their way to take care of you. Many people stopped what they were doing to either give us a piece of information about the town or offer to drive our massive pile of bags to the airport for us. Going from having this kind of interactions with people to large cities further south was a big change

We flew into Winnipeg, Manitoba, and drove to Ely, Minnesota. All along the way it was obvious that we stuck out. A large group of tan, stinky, and scraggly bearded young adults isn't something you typically see in modern civilization when proper amenities are available. It was only the beginning of my culture shock. When I returned home I was completely taken aback at everything. Northfield, Minnesota, is not a large nor bustling city by any means, but when the loudest sound you've been hearing for the last month and half is the screeches of Herring Gulls and the roar of rapids, planes, trains, and automobiles set you a bit on edge. Mechanical technology wasn't the only factor in this. As soon as I logged on to take care of the month-and-a-half of email, I had to log off from over stimulation.

I've never been one to really feel culture shock before, so experiencing it before I actually depart on my exchange is strange. I will be very interested to see if my modern society shock has dissipated before I dive for the deep. As I'm sitting here typing, I'm only imagining what it will feel like to once again be the one to not fit it. I will be in a bubble trying to break out and experience everything. I will be trying to cut through the icy shell on a lake in a canoe. I am greatly looking forward to being put out of my comfort zone in a completely different way. Instead of being in shock by a place that I have returned to I will be experiencing a new place. For now I will try and acclimate myself to what is around me without letting what is to come nudge my feelings in any direction. Let's hope I'm prepared!