Culture Shock Essay

The Smolinski family in Bread Givers was a typical immigrant family who faced struggles during the assimilation process. By looking at Sara and her father¡¯s perspectives that there is a gap of cultural differences and generational differences separated between them, where most immigrants¡¯ family faces. As a child of immigrant Sara was bound by her native culture, but she unlike her other sisters took the courage and effort by abandoning her own culture to assimilate the dominant American culture. She also have sacrificed her family separation, her youth and experiencing hardship in order to pursuit her dream.

Many people come to the United States for freedom and to live out the American dream.What is happening is many people are trying to “fit” in with the American ways that they lose a lot of their own culture by assimilating into the American society.By losing your culture you lose a part of yourself.Knowing about your history and learning about other people’s history can give you a greater understanding of other ethnic groups and in some ways enrich your life.By preserving your culture and learning about others, it will help you to understand people better.If more people did this communication would be better between the vast ethnic groups.And by learning all of this you learn a lot about yourself and who

Moving to a different country is a great adventure that can bring pleasure and distress being a new immigrant. Many would have difficulty dealing with the culture shock that goes along with moving into a foreign country. This is unavoidable because of the unknown surroundings, unfamiliar customs and different behavioral formalities and structure. The four stages of Culture Shock may stop it sooner once they notice the patters. The four stages of Culture Shock are: honeymoon, negotiation, depression and adjustment. The first stage of culture shock is often positive, during which immagrants become infatuated with the language, people and food in their new surroundings. The follow stage negotiation is probably the hardest stage, after sometime in the new enviroment you start to feel the cultural differences. The culture may seem confusing or frustrating. You may blame your frustrations on the new culture and

After fifteen months of living in Canada we found that we were suffering from culture shock and moved back to England in 2009. Culture shock was studied closely by a man named Kalervo Oberg. Trying to give a better understanding of this phenomenon he stated that, “culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse” (). It is known that when suffering from culture shock you can feel “disorientation, alienation, depression, and loneliness” (textbook). For my family and I, we found that we were not fitting in the way we expected to, my father could not find employment, my mother did not have a work permit so she also could not get a job, we were running out of money, and felt like we did not have any other choice but to move back home. Our decision to move back to England seems to be very common choice as Oberg also stated, “all the difficulties and problems are

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.’

All throughout history African Americans have been discriminated against and always been at a disadvantage, whether it be in the courtroom, with police officers, or just trying to be a normal American citizen. Recently many minority players are taking a stand against the prejudice injustices that they face on an everyday basis. In response to the injustices they face, using their national fame, the athletes are raising awareness by taking a knee during the National Anthem, in an attempt to peacefully protest. This bold form of protest has only occurred a handful amount of times, because of not only the national criticism that is to follow but the repercussions as well. Many American citizens, veterans and government officials are taking

In today’s society us humans are so distinct with one another, when it comes to our norms, beliefs, representations of our groups, even material goods representing these groups. This in short, is culture “The values, norms and material characteristic of a given group...one of the most distinctive properties of human social association.” As stated in Chapter 2 “Culture and Society” under “Sociology-The Basics”. Now, something else that has shaped society and changed it ultimately is race. That being, “..any group into which humans can be divided according to their shared physical or genetic characteristics” (Cambridge Dictionary). It seems evident to me that Culture is a deep, much more personal, changeable representation of a group or an individual.

Living as a Messianic Jew in America presents a threefold problem with culture. In many ways, I have my feet in three, dare one say four, differing cultures that are always fighting against each other. The first is an American culture which is moving more towards an atheistic culture and wants to bury its need for G-d under many differing ideas where a one person thinks they can make a difference by doing something of no value. The second culture is a Christian sub-culture. Christianity which has been the dominate religion for so long that many will think that being American makes one a Christian and thereby loses it value of meaning and salvation. Christianity second part of culture is the attempt to take over the culture and accepting it into the church service because many Christians feel a desperate need to be relevant. The third is a Jewish sub-culture. While Jews make up about 2% of the population and the religious jews make up less than a a fifth of Jews in America. Yet, the bonds to synagogue are closer to the Jewish

Growing up, I always questioned my parents’ ideals and customs because I viewed myself as only an American. My first language was English and the only memories I had were of New York City. This idea of being “American” followed me throughout my adolescent years as I started to resent my Korean background. Why do I have to add honorifics when I’m talking to someone barely older than me? Why am I bowing to this person?

The significance of this triad is that these are the three major parts of the “conformity” culture of the 1950s. The first part was the idea of women's “place.” This was the idea that a proper woman’s place in society was in the home. The ideal woman was married at a young age, primarily tended to her husband and children, and hosted parties and events for the other women.This was a reaction to women working in World War II and a fear that this departure of domesticity would continue. The second part of the “conformity” culture was a very strong sense of community. People searched for this because of the constant mobility required on workers by many corporations. Whereas before people were likely to be born, get married, and die, all in the

The vast political and cultural differences impacting American society are becoming increasingly liberal with each passing generation . The proves that the American culture is becoming more liberal with each new generation . The vast differences in the administrations and policies of Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, show the radical changes that have occurred in American culture over the last generation.

Finally, it is important to have a positive attitude throughout these new experiences. for one,iIt will not always be easy to get used to a new culture but it helps to be aware of that and to maintain a positive attitude regardless. According to kende,” thank u Canada we love you “(135).this shows that people have positive attitude towards to a new adopting country. People should not be afraid to make mistakes but instead learn from them. Individuals can take this as an opportunity to grow and learn as a person while at the same time remembering that there is not only one way to do something, just that this might be how it is done in

By definition, discrimination is the cruel treatment towards a person of a specific group, according to his or her classification or status. For centuries, discrimination has been a big issue in many countries over race, socioeconomic status, appearance and ethnicity. Racism continues to exist primarily not only in the United States, but also in Europe and South America, with attempts to block minorities from any opportunities. In Rick Bragg’s memoir, All Over but the Shoutin, Bragg reveals the influence of racism on the modern world. The effects of these unjust social practices can be felt throughout humanity today.

Cultural differences effect many aspects of our daily lives. With the many different cultures embedded in the United States, it is important that everyone has an understanding and respect for the melting pot that is encountered daily in our communities, workplaces and schools.

Globalization simply defined is the intensification of global interactions. The case studies we have studied depict two of the main types of globalization. Economic Globalization, which is the production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and tangible services, and Cultural Globalization, the exchange of materials and symbols that represent facts, meaning values and beliefs. When Globalization occurs it usually has a major impact on indigenous cultures. Optimists or “champions” state that the relationship between culture and globalization has positive effects as it creates a balance between nations. Conversely, critics state that relationships between the two have negative effects, leading to the loss or deterioration of a