Australian Gourmet Traveller - (05)May 2020 (1)

The art of...

enjoying culture shock

Unfamiliarityisgoodforyou.AndJapandeliversjusttheright

amount of the strange and startling, writesANNA HART.

I

maginebeingimmunetocultureshock.

You’dmissoutonsomuch.AndI admit

I wasgrowinga littleconcernedaboutmy

culturalimmunesystem,lastyear.After

all,I’velivedinfar-flungcitiesasdisparateasBelfast,

Singapore,Auckland,LosAngeles,Warsawand

London.I’veattendedweirdandwonderfulevents

liketheRioCarnivalinBrazil,a Vikingfirebacchanal

intheShetlandIslandsandthemasswaterfight

thatis theBuddhistNewYearcelebrationsin

LuangPrabang,Laos.Whatif I wasnowculturally

unshockable? Had calluses formed on my soul, the

hardenedsouloftheinveteratewriterwhohasseenit

all,doneit all,andthereforefeelsnothingat all?Had

I travelledmyselfintoa grimstateofperpetualease,

relentlesscomfortandunyieldingself-confidence?

Mercifully,thisflurryofworrywasended,abruptly,

bya visittoJapan.Japanimmediatelymademefeel

likea bumpkin,analien,a clutzandanamateur.

Thereliefwasimmense.Becauseit’shealthyto

dragourselvesawayfromthefamiliarandfacethe

unfamiliar.Feelinglikea fishoutofwaterforcesus

tolaughat ourselves,it nipsemergentprejudicesin

the bud, and it keeps our minds nimble and resilient.

106 GOURMET TRAVELLER