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1、A Study of Culture Shock Summary: This article is due to have a further study of culture shock. It gives us its stages and the strategies of how to overcome culture shock. It not only offers us vivid pictures about what culture shock is but also what causes it. It is much likely to be a great help t
2、o those who will go abroad, especially go abroad for study or a rather long stay in a foreign country and I faithfully hope this will help people understand the idea of what here culture shock means and what it contains.Key Words: culture, shock In many countries in the world, men kiss each other wh
3、en they meet, for example in Russia, France, Arab countries and some of the South American countries. That sounds shocked to some people. However, Men do not kiss each other in either China or English-speaking countries. French people kiss each other hello and goodbye more often than British people.
4、 These kinds of kiss, especially kisses between men or between women, may cause culture shock. People who live in one place and have their own culture may feel terribly shocked or stressed when they suddenly stay in another different place and have to meet a different culture. If two Chinese men kis
5、s each other, they are mostly regarded as gays, which will surely cause a kind of culture shock.Culture shock may happen almost everywhere. Thats because people in the world, even though they are from different places or countries, are mostly accustomed to their own way of life. If the differences b
6、etween life at home and life in a new place happen, culture shock occurs. Lets take “Touch” for example. Generally, people from English-speaking countries do not touch each other very much. If you touch an English person, you should say “Sorry”. Scientists have done some research on “Touch” in diffe
7、rent countries. They watched pairs of people who were sitting in college coffee-shops for at least an hour. They counted the number of times that the people touched each other: CountryTimes of touchEngland0USA2France10Puerto Rico180This shows that people may surely feel stressed or shocked when they
8、 go abroad to visit such counties as Puerto Rico.From above, we may have some idea of what culture shock is. A proverb can best describe this kind of phenomenon “Ones taste is anothers poison”.What Is Culture Shock? It is really hard for us to give a perfect identification to culture shock. We may j
9、ust get some concept about it. According to Furnham & L. Bochner, culture shock means “Psychological reactions to an unfamiliar environment (New York: Methuen, 1986)”. K. Oberg, an anthropologist, by whom the term culture shock was first introduced, suggested culture shock should be adjustments to n
10、ew culture environments. In the following paragraph, he offers a detailed account of this phenomenon:Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs or cues include the thousand and one ways in which we orient ou
11、rselves to the situation of daily life: how to give orders, how to make purchases, when and when not to respond. Now these cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, or norms are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and are as much as a part of our culture as the language we
12、 speak or the beliefs we accept. All of us depend for our peace of mind and efficiency on hundreds of these cues, most of which are not consciously aware.This detailed account gives us a clear explanation for culture shock itself and its contents. I think culture shock is usually considered to be so
13、mething somebody visiting or living in a foreign country cant deal with.So far I havent experienced anything of that nature.Still there are many things that seem to be common for us to understand the concept of culture shock. Therefore maybe I can simply give the following brief concept to my study
14、of culture as follows:Culture shock is the term used to describe the stresses and strains, which accumulate from being forced to meet ones every day needs in unfamiliar ways. Another phase of culture shock is regression. The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous importance, everything becom
15、es irrationally glorified. All difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered. It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality.What Causes Culture Shock? Now we are quite clear that culture shock is caused by some of the differences between life a
16、t home and life in a new place. For example differences in:1. Language, climate, religion, food, and educational system. 2. How people make decisions, spend their leisure time, resolve conflicts, and express their feelings and emotions. 3. Body language such as the meanings of hand, face and body mo
17、vements can create confusion and emotional stress. Everyone experiences the symptoms of culture shock somewhat differently. There are real physical and psychological impacts of arriving in a new culture. We will be afflicted by ailments without apparent origin, such as headaches, loss of appetite, f
18、atigue and diarrhoea. All our senses are on full alert with new sights, sounds, smells and tastes. Our metabolism may take months to adapt to a new climate. Even while we sleep the environment impacts on our senses, possibly influencing our dreams. Our behaviour towards other people may take a turn
19、for the worse. We feel impatient when they dont speak our language and become angry when their systems of work are different (and seemingly wrong). Although we consider ourselves non-racist we find ourselves using generalizations about the locals; “they” are rude, dirty and “they” dont like me. This
20、 can be quite a shock to our self-image. Moving overseas presents many challenges big and small that take our way out of our comfort zone, extending us to achieve extraordinary things. In order to feel comfortable again it is necessary to become familiar with the terrain and adapt to the new environ
21、ment. When we feel uncomfortable or even completely miserable, it might be reassuring to know that something is happening to us, that we are growing into a more worldly person. So it is important for us to get familiar with the outside world. Here are for us some topics that have something to do wit
22、h culture shock.LanguageLanguage is extremely important to human interaction because it is how we reach out to make contact with our surroundings. Language is a guide to “social reality”. Generally, when we want to communicate in another language, it is important for us to know not only the symbols,
23、 words, and phonetics of that language, but also the rule system that allow us to communicate with another person. If not, the use of language may cause culture shock.Niehoff and Arensberg have pointed out “nothing more clearly distinguishes one culture from another than its language”. It may imply
24、that people in different language situation may have much difficulty in understanding the culture in another language situation. Sometimes, language may cause a greater culture shock compared to other factors that cause it.Here is an actual joke that spoken language causes culture shock. It is said
25、that an American man, who stays in China on business, happens to meet a very beautiful young lady with whom he is working in the same office building. They are about to go downstairs when the lift doesnt work. Maybe there is something wrong with the lift. They both have to walk downstairs. The Ameri
26、can man tries to be polite, so he asks the young lady to walk downstairs together with him. He says to her in Chinese “Lets go downstairs together, please.” In Chinese the words mean “下楼,我们一起下楼吧！” But this foreigner pronounces the Chinese word “楼lu” for “流lu”. Therefore what the young lady hear is t
27、hat “我们一起下流吧!”The phrase “下流” in Chinese has the meaning of mens sexual need upon women or something like that. Apparently, a kind of terrible culture shock happens between them.ClimateThere are various kinds of climate in the world. Different climates lie in different regions on the earth. Usually
28、the differences between two parts of the world may surely exist different kinds of culture. The climate there has a close contact with its culture. We have to deal properly with the problem of climate in the country that we plan to visit or stay in. It would be quite clever for us to choose a countr
29、y or place whose climate agrees with you. We have to be particularly cautious about our own health. Strong body can help us a lot when we are obliged to overcome some difficulties coming from bad weather or climate.If the weather or climate does not agree with you, you will feel more depressed than
30、usual. So when we choose a place to study abroad, we had better first of all put the climate in mind. Remember that people in a hot region or place can have an extremely different kind of culture from the people in a very cold region or place.Religion In the western countries, Religion has a direct
31、effect on culture. When we are in a foreign country, religions there affect our life. It is important for us to respect their beliefs regardless of their correctness. Jews cover their heads when they pray, but Protestants do not. It doesnt mean one more correct than the other. The Catholic speaks to
32、 God, the Buddhist has no god, and Hindus has many godsIs one more correct than the others? In parts of Turkey and Saudi Arabian, women cover their faces with veils, while in the United States do notIs one more correct than the other? These sorts of rhetorical questions are never ending.Sometimes re
33、ligion can be covered with many “isms”. Whether it should be racism, sexism, ageism, gayism, or any other “isms”, religions serves as the starting point for most prejudicial beliefs. All these overwhelm the individual culture. FoodOnes taste is anothers poison. We all know what this proverb tells us
34、. For one thing, food is largely different in the world, even in the same country or region; for another thing, people in the world have and eat various food and cooked it in quite different way. The food that we dont like at all may be enjoyed by others while what we enjoy eating may be disliked by
35、 others. Some food agrees with you, but some does not. Food agreement is very important when we go abroad to stay or to study. We have to get used to the food in the new place as soon as possible. If not, we will feel tired, sick and upset because of the disagreeable food there. Mustard is a kind of
36、 spice. Europeans and some people in Japan like to eat sliced meat of raw fish. They enjoy mustard with raw sliced-fish. However, if it is the first time for most of people in China to eat such kind of food, it is really too uncommon to enjoy. Insects are eaten by some people as a kind of food in so
37、me part of the world. Surely other people van not bear this kind of food culture.Many restaurants provide information, recipes, testimonials, links, message boards, and support for the living and raw vegetarian based food diet. Many provide us wild food recipes. These are the wild food recipes that
38、did not fit into the herb, mushroom, or insect categories. Half the fun of eating wild foods is getting outside and tracking them down.getting back to our human roots. These men even enjoy happy wild food hunting!There is recipe book that shows people how to enjoy boiled snail. It says: “You can fin
39、d them in your garden or in moist areas outside. Make sure its an area free of pesticides. They are easier to find in the morning and late evening, as they are more active then. If you are having trouble, look for them near moist concrete structures. Gather your snails and put them in a box with air
40、 holes. Put in a food dish and a water dish. Change the water as often as possible. Cornmeal and lettuce is a good choice for food. Leave them here for 3 days. This should clean them out. Next, take out the food and leave them in the box for two more days. After 5 days, they are ready to cook. Clean
41、 them off in some water and place them in boiling water with a little butter, salt, and lemon. Boil gently for about 30 minutes. You may try them before this, as its a matter of taste. You can eat them plain or try them with lemon, hot sauce, salsa, or soy sauce.soy sauce and lemon is a particularly
42、 good combination. They also taste good in marinara sauce”. Do you like it? I dont.In a word, food can cause culture shock. We eat what we really enjoy and try to get used to the food that we are not interested now. That will makes better.Body languageActions can speak louder than words. Body langua
43、ge has a close effect on culture shock.We may have a witty way with words, but not all of us know that 90 percent of what we say isnt verbal. Its our body language - our gestures, expressions, eye contact and touch - that does most of the talking. And when it comes to finding romance, body language
44、plays a starring role.A smile and handshake show welcome. Waving ones hand is to say “goodbye”. Nodding the head means agreement, while tossing the head means disagreement. These gestures are accepted both by Chinese and English speakers as having the same meanings. So we can say we can send message
45、s to the people around us by our expressions and body movements.But not all body language means the same thing in different countries. Take nodding the head for example. In some Asian countries it means not “Yes” but “No”. It is certainly of great importance for us to know much about the meanings of
46、 some body language. For example, no matter how nervous you are, try to avoid hand-to-face gestures such as touching your nose or rubbing your eye. This means you are not entirely comfortable with the subject matter being discussed. Its often a sign that you are not being completely honest about som
47、ething.It is good manners for an Arab to stand close to his friend when they are talking. But English people do not like to be too close to one another unless there is a reason. It could be very interesting to watch an Arab and an Englishman talking together. The Arab who is friendly will stand clos
48、e to friend, but the Englishman will move back in order to keep a certain distance away. When they finish their talk, the two may be quite a distance from the place where they were talking.The following form is about the meanings of body language between China and the United States, which might be v
49、ery helpful to those who will visit the two countries in the future.MEANING IN CHINABODY LANGUAGEMEAING IN THE USAWelcomeA smile and a handshakeWelcomeHello! Goodbye!Waving ones handHello! Goodbye!AgreementNodding the headAgreementDisagreementShaking the headDisagreementMay I ask a question?May I have a try?Putting up a handMay I ask a question?May I have a try?LoveKissingLiv
