who could help me summarize culture shock and sojourn based on their opinion of it and what it means to you...

Question

i have this article i had chosen to do titled 'culture shock: what to expect when you relocate' and i'm not so good on summarizing without plagiarizing or using most of the words! =) i'm a freshman and i'd like some advice upon the question asked...thank you in advance!!

Answer 1

I don't know where to start. But I moved from Buffalo, NY to Terra Alta, WVa 7 years ago. It was a big adjustment for me.

In New York:
People locked their car/house doors
Road rage
Get hired on whether you can do the job
Straighter roads
You might know your neighbors
Strangers don't talk to you
Convenience in shopping within a 10 mile radius
Lots of red light
Nice roads
They have zoos, amusement parks
More modern to the times
Churches more political and formal
Richer State

In West Virginia:(where I live)
People don't locked their car/house doors
No road rage, they will stop in the middle of the road to let you cross the road or take a turn
Get hired faster if you were born and raised in West Virginia
Curvier and mountainous roads (takes twice as long to go 30 miles then in NY)
Everybody knows everybody, closer net family
Strangers talk to you like they knew you forever
Have to drive 60 miles to do any selective shopping
Less red lights, we have 4 red lights in our whole county
Rougher roads
Closest zoos & amusement parks is 2 1/2 hr drive
Much less modern to the times
Churches more homier and relaxed (in fact within a 10 mile radius there are 3 churches that still use outhouses for their bathroom).
Adressing people with Yes SIR/Ma'am
Pooer State

The cultural shock was getting use to the differences in everyday living, differences in how people did things, the accent that they use here, the english words they used as well. In NY they put soda in a bag...In WVa they put pop in a sack or poke. When I was in NY I was comfortable with the way I was living, I was use to the way things were, I knew what to espect and how to handle different situations, then when I moved here, I felt lost, I wanted to live the way I did in NY, here, but I had to change. First 3 months weren't bad cause everything was new to me. I tried to fit in and tried to be funny so I mentioned that in NY we used grits for cat litter, well they didn't think that was funny here and thought I was making fun of the way they lived. Now I can say it and they won't be offended, cause they know me now. I know not to speak about the Hatfields & the McCoys here in certian areas. I speak a lot like a southern person, not because I'm around them, but it's most so they understand me better.

I don't know how to make a summary short of this, other then culture shock is going to a place where the people and lifestyle is completely different from what I'm use to, and adjusting to their way of life.