Learning Grace
Cultural adjustments go through several stages, moving from novelty to annoyance, then acceptance, and finally adaptation. The first stage is when everything about the culture is new, intriguing, fresh, unusual, and (often) comical. Even though we had experienced much of Chinese culture in our time in Taiwan, much of last year was spent in that first stage. Things were new and fresh, and those things that would have been offensive in the States were still unusual and easily taken with a grain of salt, such as the habit laborers have of pulling their shirt up over their stomach when they are hot. That was last year. This year, as we have become more adapted to the culture, many of those cultural "quirks" have graduated to annoyances. The driving style is no longer amusing (many drivers drive with both feet, quickly swerve, or cut others off) especially for someone who still gets motion sickness; the stares in public are becoming more tiresome; the shifting of blame mor