Personally, I'm pretty easy going, so it was a mixture of excitment and wonder. I've always wanted to come to China, and at last, I did it! I had a lot of reasons for coming here, and one was to study traditional Chinese ink painting and to learn how to write. This went a long way towards tempering my rejection of the habits of the local populance. It took about two months to really understand that "I wasn't in Kansas anymore."

However, keep in mind the following:

For most people, it is the same upon entering a new culture. There are 5 phases a person goes through, from wonder (honeymoon), to anger (when  a person starts to "settle down" in day-to-day life and can't do anyting because of language barriers, etc.), to rejection ("to hell with this!"), to integration ("Aw, this isn't so bad"), to finally, if one eventually returns to their home country, reentry. This can cause reverse culture shock as one has to adapt to another way of life once again.

Reverse culture shock comes in many forms, especially when one goes from an eastern to western culture (or vise versa). It all has to do with adapablity. You've changed. The place you used to live has changed. The people you knew have changed.
Life didn't stop when you were having fun abroad.

Once you have lived somewhere else, you will never be the same, for good or for bad.

Exciting,blew my mind,lived here 1 and half years now still love it 95 days out of 100,nothing like I expected it to be

I was quarantined due to swine flu and very bored. Then I found out Shanghai airport is pretty cool in a retro way. Then I was quarantined again for two weeks. I wasn't sick or anything. Just so bored.

Failed State

not at all what I expected
what i saw on the everning news and the rummor mill that seams to spring up when you mention the subject
I was realy expecting a cop with an automatic wepon on every street corner
little did i know it would be a 3yr old laying little  mines on the street.
untill I got to China I had no idea how wrong i was and what I was missing out on
Ive see some pretty horrid things in some countries first hand and expeted not anybetter
in some ways I was right like that poor little girl
but in the grand skeam of things I didnt have a clue

My first day in China consisted of a factory tour, then a business dinner with strangers, and then finally KTV (girleoke).  I was stunned that places like this even existed, and was pissed off even more when they made me pick a girl out of a lineup of 10....granted all she did was pour my drinks and marvel at my arm hairs.  Welcome to China.

The first time around I was amazed by the tall buildings. I'm from a much smaller city than Beijing so I was literally stunned by the huge city.

This time around I was, once again, amazed by how freaking huge Shanghai is. I went through a culture shock this time around that I didn't experience before. Being around people who all had the same basic features and not seeing diverse faces started scaring me. I can't really describe the feeling I had. It's just hard to fathom some people grow up having never seen someone who doesn't look like them. Apart from that I guess the first days were okay for me

The first time I came to China, it was on vacation. We went to all the touristy places and ate decent food, so it was fun for the most part. I didn't like Beijing, the air was awful. I liked being in Shanghai, that big city feel, especially at night. The second time I came to China, it was for a teaching job. It was raining a lot and I had some major jet lag. Mostly I was just trying to get used to living here.

I thought "Cool!"
Liked it so much, i came back the following year.  Liked it even MORE so I decided to stay for one year as a teacher.  That was four  years ago...

The first thing I noticed was the air had a smell, like something deep fried, but not yummy. The second was my plane was missing. When I went down the ramp, there was no plane, no signs posted. Imagine getting to the end of the ramp and no plane or people,, twilight zone,, I didn't think I missed it, why did they let me board?. I saw some stairs and took them down. Still no plane, but a bus waiting near by. I tried to ask ,but no one could speak English, so I got on the bus and it drove to a plane. I got on the plane and ended up in Guilin. I still don't know how I navigated between terminals. I think the force is strong in this one.

First reactions: Hot, humid & chaotic.
First impressions: If a US health inspector came here, they would have a heart attack within the first 10 yards of walking on the street.
First shock: buses honking for me to get out of the way as I rudely walked down the sidewalk.

My first impression was memorable......http://hkjim.blogspot.com/