Reverse Culture Shock!

For well over a decade I have lived in Europe. First in Madrid, Spain and now in Vienna, Austria. I remember one of my first culture shock moments took place in Spain when I walked into a supermercado (supermarket) and experienced the sight (and smell) of jamón serrano (cured ham) hanging along the wall. To our children, having spent more time in Europe than in the United States, this became their normal but to me, while I enjoy eating jamón serrano, I still have a hard time with the aroma.

Anna and I knew that our children would experience some culture shock when they returned to the US to attend college. This really struck home on my recent trip to the states with our son, Josh. While I fully expected Josh to experience a bit of culture shock, to my surprise, I had a few reverse culture shock moments!

Here are my top five reverse culture shock moments from this recent trip.

1. Air conditioning – It seemed every building had their air conditioner set on “arctic circle”, I was cold everywhere I went! In Austria central air is very rare in most homes. Many schools and public buildings don’t have A/C. I guess I’ve gotten used to not having it.
2. Kind people, crazy drivers – Everywhere we went people greeted us with smiles and warm handshakes. Virtually every store had top notch customer service and complete strangers would help us with directions… and then we got on the road. I felt as if I were in a scene from Mad Max! People speeding, changing lanes recklessly, driving slow in the fast lane and you can just forget about trying to zipper merge.
3. Buffets and free refills – Buffets and free refills are almost unheard of in Spain and Austria. Just down the road from our house in Austria, there was a McDonalds that had free refills.  Two months later they removed the soda bar… no more free refills. Back in the US, it was nice to go to a buffet and pile on the collard greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread and then go back for more.
4. Waitstaff – Don’t get me wrong, wait staff in Europe get the job done, but don’t expect them to come to your table every five minutes to check on you, refill your glass before it is empty (remember, no refills), and call you “hon” and “shug”. It got to the point that I felt I couldn’t converse with those at the table without being interrupted by the well-meaning waitstaff. In Europe, meals tend to be long, leisurely affairs while back in the US it seemed like a race.
5. Lines at Wal-Mart – In Austria if you’re in a checkout line and the line gets long it is acceptable to shout “Kassa bitte!” (register please!) and someone will come and open a new register. The lines at Wal-mart were eight to ten people deep and there were so many empty registers that I found myself about to shout, Kassa bitte! But on second thought I didn’t think that would go over to well.

Think about how this could relate to teens from other cultures we are trying to reach with the gospel. When they come into our youth services and experience church in our cultural context, what might cause them a bit of culture shock? Even if they are coming from a Christian background, what would they think of our worship? Would they feel it is it too loud, too short, or too long when they compare it to their cultural norms? What would they feel about the way we pray in our services?  There was a couple from our Ethiopian congregation who were getting married. To start the couple off right, the entire Ethiopian congregation met once a week for two hours over the course of three months to pray for the couple before the wedding. What would a teen who comes from a similar culture think of a prayer time that lasts 5-10 minutes?

Some may say, “People coming here need to do things the way I do it!” But is that attitude Biblical? What did Paul say? “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23 NIV) Now, I am not advocating that we toss out the way we do church, but I am suggesting that we look at how we do things through the eyes of those we are trying to reach. What are the non-negotiables about our youth ministries and what things can we adjust to make those we are reaching feel welcomed and loved?

If we are intentionally targeting teens from different cultures or co-cultures here are a few questions we could ask ourselves:

• What things might cause them culture shock when they first step into our youth service?
• Is the way we recognize visitors warm and welcoming to the cultures we are reaching?
• Are the songs we sing and the style of worship inclusive or just targeting one culture or co-culture?
• Is the “face” (the most visible people, those in leadership, on the stage, etc.) of our youth group reflective off all the cultures we are reaching?

If you haven’t already done so, consider picking up a copy of More Than Pizza: Youth Ministry Beyond Our Culture and Ethnicity. It’s a  great resource to help you reach teens from different cultures and ethnicities in your community!