Culture is the communicative practices, traditions, and stories that give identity to a group of people.
I could go on with thousands of experiences connected to "culture shock", which is a feeling we feel when we encounter a culture that is unfamiliar to our own, and it it feels disruptive of what we usually expect in our own culture. I came to the U.S from Sweden when I was 19, to live here for year. I had never been in the country before and moved directly in to an American culture. My first month was like a "honeymoon" everything was new and cool, but after two months I started to feel the culture shock that this chapter discuss. In my job as a nanny I had a really hard time adjusting to the families relation to food, for example I thought the kids eat way too much sugar to what I would allow... But I had to adjust. I spent most night hanging out with my other European friends complaining about the silly things Americans do... In our opinion. After months 6 months in the U.S I came to realize that there isn't such a thing as right or wrong culture way to do things, we all different ways to do things... I became more respectful after getting American friends since got very annoyed over our complaints. There are different ways to understand "the good" of different cultures, and I now believe that the more you are exposed to cultures different than your own, the more respectful you get about them, including your own.
I really enjoyed hearing about your view of culture shock. I rarely hear students from other countries talk about the major differences they have to adjust to, but I know they exist. It was cool finally hear from a student that was not born and raised in the U.S. In reading this I have realized that what I do may make somebody uneasy because they are not used to it. Just because I understand how an aspect of american culture works, doesn't mean that everyone else does too. I really need to keep an open mind to the fact that different cultures than my own have existed for the entire length of human history as the book mentions.
ReplyDeleteI think you make an interesting point about how culture shock can take time. Often I think about how culture shock may last a day to a week perhaps but a real adjustment can take months or maybe even a year. I think it is also important that you mention how you and your friends came to the realization that just because the culture is different from what you were used to it was not necessarily wrong. Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in cultures or ideas being right or wrong that we forget they may simply be different. We may prefer one to the other but that does not necessarily mean it is wrong.
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