Crossing cultures - and roads...

As another week passes and a new one begins, I thought I'd write a blog-entry that best sums up the past 7 or so days. It has been a fairly 'normal' week although there have been one or two testing moments which as always, prove fertile ground in the field of every day life. It is of course what you sow in those moments that determines what you reap. In short, I appear to be moving in and out of one of the many phases of culture shock. This particular phase is not a good one, but it is an important one to go through in the movement towards accepting the surrounding culture (which probably never happens). At the moment I experience days when the prevailing culture around me grinds a little harder than it did when I first arrived in Greece. Since arriving in Athens, I've always noticed the differences between the British culture I so happened to be immersed in, and the Greek culture which is, well, to put it plainly, as un-British as you can get.

One of the many orange trees that line
the streets of Athens.

There are lots of things about the Greek culture that are worth celebrating, for instance the openness and expression of emotion that my stiff-upper lip finds a little unnerving from time to time. Although if I'm honest, my upper lip has never really been that stiff. On occasion, I've been rather concerned that an argument is about to break out only to discover that the couple in question are simply having a conversation. One of the most valuable things I am learning from all this can be summed up in four words - it's not about you.

In fact, these four words probably sum up what I've been learning these past six months and no doubt will continue to be the lesson God impresses upon my heart. I think that when you've become so used to a particular way of doing things, you begin to think that it is the only way to do it. An inevitable consequence of crossing cultures is coming face to face with the reality that this just isn't true. For instance, take crossing the road. Cars are meant to stop at zebra crossings right? Not in Greece. No, you have to wait for an opportune moment and then make a break for it.

And I'm sure someone said to me once "Wait for the little green man and then it's safe to cross" - not in Greece. OK these are trivial examples and partly in jest but you're beginning to see the picture. As my inherent British-ness is increasingly brought to the surface, I am gifted with an ideal opportunity to engage more intensely with the differing surrounding culture. I'm learning that I can respond to these moments in one of two ways - separation or embrace. The former is a much more natural response and one that I definitely sway towards when feeling culturally overloaded. Like a hermit crab, the only thing you feel like doing is retreating back into the shell of familiarity. Comfortable yes, but productive no. The other option is to embrace the culturally clashing moment and in doing so open up not only opportunities to learn from that moment, but opportunities to grow.   

To offer some kind of summary, the key I think that is needed if the culturally challenged person is to have any success in unlocking something positive from their experience, is the key of humility. I was reading this morning from Ephesians 5:1-2 when Paul writes a challenging exhortation to the Christians in Ephesus saying:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Be imitators of God! You sometimes hear people say of a child 'He's just like his father' or words to that effect. As beloved children of God what a high calling it is to be like God. How can we do it?How does someone imitate God? They walk in love, and the model for such love is Christ himself. And so I was comforted this morning and reminded that when testing moments arise, which undoubtedly they will, by God's grace I can look to Christ. Who humbled himself becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Such self sacrificial love must be the seed sown if anything good is to be reaped. I heard it once put like this - my desire to love must outweigh my desire to be loved.