Share any experiences that you may have had.
2006-10-26 07:28:38 · 6 answers · asked by Dave 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
One need not leave one's country to experience culture shock.
I moved to West Virginia when I was 13, after living in New Jersey, Hawaii, California, & Portugal. W.Va. was culture shock for me. The use of language was different, the material we were studying in school was different, the food was different .... It was definately not New Jersey anymore.
I spent a summer in Salzburg, Austria while I was in college, for German language courses. I knew my grasp of the language was not great (hence my taking the classes). However, I very quickly realized that my oral comprehension far exceeded my ability to read. At the age of 20, I realized I was illiterate (in German). I could not read the newspaper. I could not even read children's books! I had problems with menus. It gave me a great, abiding appreciation for people in my own country who struggle with literacy -- something I would never have gotten so firmly without having experienced it personally - which required leaving the US.
Marrying someone who is not American is an on-going culture shock. Just when I think I've got it all figured out, another curve ball hits. There are so many small things, which are built into our daily assumptions about how the world works, which are programed by our culture. Expectations of how "the system" works, especially. While applying for my spouse's green card, I was the one who actually talked to the INS agents in the waiting rooms. My husband speaks perfectly good English - but I am the one who has decades of experience dealing with the US government in all of its glory. I have a better feel for what I can demand, and when I should just suck it up. Similarly to my experience in Austria, it gave me a great appreciation for what others must endure. I was sitting in the INS office in Detroit, Mich., waiting. Looking around, I realized almost every single person in the place was not a native speaker of English, and I was one of only a few natives. I can't imagine what it must be like for them, struggling with a language barrier as well as the cultural barrier. How to deal with government employees varies quite a lot from country to country.
I got to be on theother side of that coin when I was trying to process some paperwork with my husband's government. I was confronted by the fact that I wasn't sure how I should treat the civil servants there. I am not a citizen of Germany or the EU. They don't have to let me stay or work or anything else, afterall. It put me in the same position as the immigrants here (and we were just trying to apply for a marriage certificate for us and a passport for our son - I wasn't even trying to get a work permit).
2006-10-26 07:56:45 · answer #1 · answered by Elizabeth S 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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2016-09-01 03:02:33 · answer #2 · answered by stults 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I experienced culture shock and it was unexpected. I couldn't wait to start my new job in China. I signed a one-year contract and traveled from the USA to China. I felt so many feelings and I had some challenging moments.
2006-10-26 07:53:10 · answer #3 · answered by cw 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes when I joined the Army and I was suddenly a minority. Then again when I moved from the midwest to the west. CA was quite the culture shock to me. Still is.
2006-10-26 07:48:00 · answer #4 · answered by bratty brat 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yep, while traveling. I went to Seattle, and the people working at the 24-hour convenience store were white!
2006-10-26 07:38:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am hispanic born and raised in TX. I went to college in Kansas while there I was touring with a group. One day after a performance a lady comes up to me and says "I just came back from your country and its beautiful!" I replied I didnt know Texas was a country I thought it was state. She looked embarassed but still kept talking. "Honey your not from Mexico?" I wanted to slap her but just walked away.
2006-10-26 07:34:58 · answer #6 · answered by JUDY M 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋