Culture Shock By Catherine Lombard, Jonathan Rempel, And Junzi Xia

The culture shock may be one challenge in the beginning, but it will be overcome. The locals may do something unusual that we may not do, but it might be nothing out of the ordinary for them. One way that the culture shock can be avoided or

Culture shock was the first thing that blew my mind when I first arrived in America. Alot of people define culture as a way in which an individual choose lead or live their life, their beliefs, customs, traditions and way of life. Being that Kenyan and America are two different countries from different continents, they might be differences in cultures and customs. This cultures present may not only distinguish them from each other’s, but there are some things in which they share with other cultures. There are some several differences and similarities between Kenyan culture and the American culture. This differences will helps us understand why people act and behave the way they do, thus preventing culture shock. Culture revolves around the high cost of living, family and food.

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

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.

The chapter continued to discuss how people experience other cultures when they are removed from their area to a different place. This occurs in the form of culture shock people experience new traditions that are unfamiliar to them when the come to a place that is home to another culture. Human development may also include joining the ideas of various cultures and forming it into a new concept. It puts heavy emphasis on learning other cultures in an unbiased form in order to compare and make observations. This chapter also studies of culture have been able to advance over time and how change is an essential aspect of

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being

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.

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.’

The levels of culture as defined by Nitza Hidalgo are The Concrete, The Behavioral and The Symbolic. It is believed that these three levels accurately depict what makes up a cultural heritage [5].

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.

What is Culture? Culture can be defined in many ways such as religion, education, and music. According to Springboard, culture can be defined as "the shared set of arts, ideas, skills, institution, customs, attitude, values, and achievements that characterize a group of people, and that are passed on or thought to succeeding generations.” There are many ways people view the world. Culture among many influences interpret how we or literary characters view the world. Throughout many literary stories and life experiences, many actions and attitudes have been influenced by cultural background. Not only does culture influence how a person may think or act, it also informs how one may view the world. In the text “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan and The Absolutely

Ruth Benedict starts off her last chapter “The individual and Pattern of Culture” by discussing the relations between the role of society and the role of the individual. Firstly, she casts off previous “misleading misconceptions”(305) that a strong society results in a weak individual and vice versa. After fully denouncing those claims she says that they add rather than “subtract” (305) from each other. She then explains why some people think that the individual and society subtract from each other, because they believe that society implements needles rules and laws that restricts the individual. Benedict furthers her point by saying that a society is never “separable from the entities that compose it” (306).

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.

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

Thesis: A better understanding of what culture shock is can help people to get over culture shock easily.