misadventures abroad, ep. 1: the bridge that wasn’t | dealing with culture shock

I’m so excited to introduce to you all the first episode of my Misadventures Abroad series, The Bridge That Wasn’t: Dealing with Culture Shock.

If you are unaware, I’m launching a new vlog series on my Youtube channel this year all about stories from my trips abroad. This first episode is about culture shock and how my friend and I both dealt with culture shock going abroad for the first time.

All new places you go to will never be what you expect and I think a lot of culture shock is a result of coming to face with the reality of the new place you’re in and initially not knowing how to deal with it. In the video, I mention a fake bridge my friend and I saw at in a pond at an estate somewhere in Greater London. From a distance, it really looked like a wooden bridge over water, but when we got closer, we realized it was fake. Hence, “the bridge that wasn’t.”

So you see this grand wooden bridge and expect it to be marvelous and you can’t wait to walk over it. But on further examination realize it’s not a bridge at all; it’s something completely different and unexpected. You realize that you can’t walk over it because it’s just a slab of wood carved in the silhouette shape of a bridge.

That, my friends, is culture shock.

I do hope you enjoy this first episode. I apologize about the wonkiness of the video. I was still learning my new camera. I promise the following episodes will be much better!