Could being surprised be synonymous with being reborn? Being surprised is a sign that you are feeling, seeing, or perceiving a new experience. It is something that you had not experienced before or something that takes you out of your comfort zone and calls you to feel alive. This is a phrase that I have been repeating frequently since I left my country, Colombia, and arrived in the United States. My arrival in this country was undoubtedly synonymous with joy and excitement, but at the same time, it was synonymous with a surprising cultural shock that would be evident in three main contexts of my life: communication, food, and weather.
In the first place, the culture shock that I felt was evident. I can define it in five words: I was starting life over. I felt as though I was being born again because of my communication skills. Somehow, this situation made me feel frustrated for different reasons. For example, at that time, I would have wanted to be able to write, communicate and understand what the people around me were saying, and to read and comprehend the newspaper, but my brain did not recognize this new communication code. I will never forget an occasion in a store where a person wrote something on a piece of paper in English, and I could not understand his message. That definitely made me feel like a little girl who was just beginning the process of exploring and understanding the world.
Moreover, I began to live experiences very different from those that I was used to having in my country. For example, the experience of adapting my palate to new food flavors was, without a doubt, a great shock. That will sound incredible, but the flavors of the fruits and vegetables were not the same as the flavors of the ones that I consumed in Colombia. In addition, the climate was a surprising change, too.
My whole life, I had lived in the famous City of Eternal Spring in Medellín, where the climate does not exceed 77° Fahrenheit, and where there are no seasons. The whole year is always spring. I do not deny that it has been beautiful to be able to see each season go by in Austin; however, at first, the high temperatures gave me a headache, and the low temperatures gave me allergies. I could be sure that it was a new world full of challenges, but at the same time, a new place that I was beginning to enjoy with all its changes.
Starting to live in the United States has been a surprise for me because the communication, food, and climate was a big challenge that gave me the opportunity to be reborn and grow personally.
