What is Culture Shock? I would best describe culture shock as a roller coaster ride- fun and exciting, yet a little scary and daunting. It happens from Country to Country, from state to state, city to city and within neighborhoods. Not everybody experiences it in the exact same way. Culture Shock occurs when one enters an unfamiliar place where cultural traits, social norms, beliefs and customs may not be in line with what they are familiar with.
Wikipedia best describes Culture Shock in four phases; the Honeymoon, Negotiation, Adjustment and the Mastery Phase, and I’ve experienced them all firsthand and can attest to their importance from an Anthropological standpoint. My “Honeymoon stage” from the moment I stepped on the plane right up to the moment we touched ground in Kennedy Airport . I knew I was in for a surprise and was excited about the unlimited opportunities which awaited me in the USA. Immediately I was in awe of the way that people lived with their big houses and beautiful homes.
Strangers that I met immediately loved my accent and although I spoke English it wasn’t American English and that was hard sometimes for them to understand me. I worked as a nanny for a family and they had a hard time understanding my vocabulary for many things. For example, “a Tap” for me is something that water comes out of instead of “a Faucet”. Everything seemed fun and new to me, but then after a few weeks I realized that there’s a huge difference between the two cultures, and I started noticing things I did not notice before.
The Essay on Culture Shock 7
... or others. A result of learning about another culture abruptly through culture shock, according to Pederson (1988) is that the ... 15, 13 – 23. Bochner, Stephen. (1994). Culture Shock. Psychology and Culture. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Brislin, Richard. (1994). Preparing ... values, and attitudes challenged. Adler (1975) believes that culture shock has a behavioral core, meaning the behavior determines ...
I started having a hard time with some things that were an everyday norm for people native to the USA. For instance, every Sunday back in South Africa we had a big lunch with my family. My first Sunday here I walked downstairs just to discover that people here don’t do Sunday lunches and my employer told me that that was more of a Thanksgiving tradition. I looked at her like she was from another planet and soon discovered that I am not in South Africa anymore. According to Robert Lenkeit, “….. he emotions people have when prolonged exposure to another society’s culture makes them feel hopeless, homesick, disoriented, angry, depressed, frustrated, or all of the above” ( R. E. Lenkeit, 2008, p. 55) I became homesick and lonely because I missed all the little things I was used to and that I took for granted for so many years. I felt further alienated due to the lack of effective communication with the family and could not make any friends, and most of all I was living in one of the riches cities in CT.
According to the Collins English Dictionary, culture shock leaves a person feeling frustrated and you always have the feeling that you are constantly judged, and you are left feeling isolated and angry. I cried every night, and tried my best to fit in, I changed my hair color, started wearing clothes that I would never wear at home, took driving classes and took some classes at the college, to learn the American english. I started making friends, and tried my best to lose my accent and slowly my anxiety , anger, frustration turned into adjustment, a feeling of belonging and I became less and less homesick. The better you are able to adjust to the differences, the greater the ability you will have in empathizing and communicating with those with whom you come in contact” ( (Piet-Pelon & Hornby, 1992, p. 2).
I understood that my believes, culture,body language and my norms were standing in my way to a better understanding of a new culture. I have been living in America for 12 years and will soon become a citizen of this wonderful country that opened so many doors for me. My advice to anybody visiting another country would be, be brave, respectful and to go into any situation with an open mind.
The Term Paper on Culture and Care Value Base
In this assignment I am going to examine and explain my own personal values and principles influence my own work in professional practice. I will compare my principles and values with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council codes of practice and the Care Value Base. The NISCC and the Care Value Base have many similar codes of practice which all health and social care practitioners should adhere ...
Everything goes well for a while until frustration and anger surfaces and before you know it adaptation is something that comes naturally. Communication, respect, and the ability to stay open minded to other cultures is very important, it will only makes the transition easier. Bibliography Books: Lenkeit, R, (2008)Introdusing cultural Anthropology, USA, McGraw-Hill Companies, Website or Webpage:Online Encyclopedia(n. a), (n. a) (2013) Culture Shock, Wikipedia. Wikimedia foundation Ink. Online document: Pelon,P. & Hornby(1992) Culture Shock, http://www. oired. vt. edu/cesa/currentstudents/cs_culturalshock. htm
