Adapting Culture Shock By Noah Webster

A sudden change in one’s surroundings can result in culture shock. Culture shock refers to the anxiety and surprise a person feels when he or she is discontented with an unfamiliar setting. The majority of practices or customs are different from what a person is used to. One may experience withdrawal, homesickness, or a desire for old friends. For example, when a person goes to live in a different place with unfamiliar surroundings, they may experience culture shock. Sometimes it is the result of losing their identity. In the article “The Phases of Culture Shock”, Pamela J. Brink and Judith Saunders describe four phases of culture shock. They are: Honeymoon Phase, Disenchantment Phase, Beginning Resolution Phase, and Effective

Culture is the people’s identity. Traditions, norms and society values determine how best parents bring up their children. Interactions among individuals from different cultures are platforms for acceptance and understanding among people. On the other hand, the interactions can pose culture shock and a person may end up feeling like a misfit in the new environment. The United States is a multicultural environment with the majority being whites. Other minority ethnic groups have either been born in the US or migrated there for work or studies.

Cultural shock is a common feeling a person experiences when transitioning into a completely different environment and living situation. Throughout the world, immigrants experience many difficulties when assimilating into a new culture.

As an immigrant child that was brought here to the United States when I was a child, I definetly had culture shocks from both sides. Growing up, Ive had seen people telling Mexican immigrants “Go back go Mexico, where you belong”. As a child that was born in Mexico but that grew up in the United States, I felt like I did not know where I belong. At the moment, I experienced three cultures; Mexican, American, and Japanase Culture. When I was about fifeteen years old I had encounterd culture shocks from my mexican and american cultures. It allowed me to change my way of thinking, that has benefited me since. Also, the affects of culture shock has lead to a positive change in my culture attitude.

The culture shock is about when someone arrives in a different place where the culture is not the same where he/she is from. I have difficult in the language, the food and the weather. They are too different from the culture of El Salvador. I believe I can overcome them trying to adapt myself in each of the difficulties and looking for help to my friends, my host family or someone else who can help to solve this

Culture shock is the feelings of alienation, hostility, heightened ethnocentrism, sense of loss, depression and/or self doubt that may result from immersion in a new culture.

Eckermann (2010), defines culture shock as segregation of two communities, creating conflict, inequality of rights, and inhuman treatment. Due to the divide, and Aboriginals being the minor group, they lost their identities and experienced tremendous stress and anxiety due to culture shock.

Pederson (7) explains that there are stages of culture shock, which he identifies as the honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation. In the honeymoon phase, a person is likely to get excited about being in a new place, meeting new people, tasting new foods, and acquiring new habits. However, as time passes by, they get into a phase of negotiation, where the differences between the culture one is used to and the one they find themselves in start to become apparent. Feelings of anxiety, anger, and frustrations start to take shape as unfavorable events perceived as strange come in the way of the person 's life, especially if a person does not feel accepted in the new culture (Mukherjee 273). Loneliness may set in, and the urge to go back to the familiar culture strongly comes into play. However, as time goes by, adjustment sets in, usually within six to twelve months, and one gets accustomed to the culture and also comes up with a routine. By this phase, one knows what is expected of them, and life once again becomes ‘normal.’

It is a sacrifice to move to a foreign country and have to change the principles and traditions that have been instilled in an individual since birth. For this reason, in order to adjust to a new culture immigrants not only have to be disposed to discard their original values to adapt to their new nation, but they have to deal with certain barrier in order to assimilate to their new lifestyle. Whether an immigrant is considered first or second generation, the obstacle of learning a new language or struggling with finding balance between the two distinct cultural worlds still remain a challenge.

While this story is a comparison paper, it also serves as a narrative of events Andrea Roman experienced growing up Bolivian while living in America. She captured the audience by being knowledgeable. She compared her life being raised in America with strict Bolivian parents who had a culture shock and did not understand the American ways of living. She tells the reader about disagreements she and her mother have on their ways of life.

Peter L. Berger once said, “The sociologist routinely experiences culture shock in his own home.” The definition of cultural shock is when someone finds himself or herself in an environment that’s unfamiliar and someone doesn’t really know how to act or do. It is out of the person’s comfort zone and to try to fit and feel included in society, once must first face the uncertainty of how the unknown culture acts like. When the sociologist looks closely at these things, he finds unexpected motives, outcomes, things that might have not been realized. Therefore, culture shock can occur frequently every day due to the fact that everywhere in the world, including America has distinguishable outcomes that belong to other cultures.

In December 1991, I traveled on a Royal Caribbean Cruise with my husband for our honeymoon. We visited many ports but the one that struck me the most with culture shock was Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

In 2010, as my sisters-in-law and their families prepared to immigrate to the United States (U.S.), my husband and I did all we can to advise and assist them in getting ready for their long journey from Nigeria to the U.S. To our surprise, contrary to every advice we gave them, in preparation for life in the US, they started out with trying American fast foods of different kinds. Culture shock is expected for anyone who immigrates to the US, regardless of where they come from. The type(s) of help the person(s) gets on how to overcome it and their adherence, most often, determines the future outcome of life in their new country of residence.

Adjusting to a new government, similar to adjusting to a new culture requires learning and adapting to new rules and norms. Dealing with this kind of change comes with new lessons, new understandings of life and new perspectives. Individuals have to learn things from scratch, learn to understand the culture and most importantly, people have to stop making assumptions. Moreover, a new culture requires a new level of open-mindedness. This is not always an easy process to go through. However, through education, creating valuable relationships and a positive attitude, it is possible to gradually get used to the new environment.

Culture Shock has played a tremendous role in the growth of cultural ecology because it is an issue that is constantly growing all over the world. In the United States, it may not seem like things are changing involving culture shock, but it is not any different then the changes in places like Africa and China for example. It is developing equally across the world because there are now more ways to travel. So, what exactly is culture shock anyways? Well, it is known as going to a foreign or unfamiliar territory that one is not used to, so they may feel symptoms of anxiety such as nervousness or shock because the customs, actions, beliefs, etc of those people may not seem familiar to them, so one may feel ill-prepared for the changing environment. Also, for example, if one was to go to school in the U.S. but came from China, they would feel culture shock because the rules in China are not the same as rules in the U.S. and so it may make one feel uneasy about the situation because they are not use to change and maybe the move was to quick for them to adjust properly. The United States is very different from foreign areas because the culture is very different. Where have people of Africa seen movie productions, music, sports, universities, iPhones, computers, etc? The answer is not where they live but in the United States if they traveled there before. This is exactly the issue with culture shock in ecology. Culture is what people behave like, feel, and do. Shock is a symptom