Abstract
Culture shock is not good or bad, it
is a natural process, affecting anyone
living, working or studying overseas. It
may be challenging for you to overcome
culture shock at first, but if you succeed
you will enjoy your life in the new
country. Factually, culture shock can bring
you various benefits. Firstly, you can gain
lots of traditions, customs, rules of
behavior and values in the new country.
Secondly, while you try to adapting and
adjusting yourself to the new country, you
are certain to be more adaptable and
open-minded, which help you a lot in your
work and life in the new country. Lastly,
your views of the world and people have
been broadened and the way you
communicate and treat people is also
improved because you know how to
respect and be polite to others. To
illustrate more about culture shock, eight
examples of culture shock are mentioned
and discussed. These culture shock stories
are experienced by people working and
learning in foreign countries.
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Thông báo Khoa học và Công nghệ Information of Science and Technology
Số 2/2016 No. 2/2016
196
BENEFITS AND STORIES OF CULTURE SHOCK
MA. Mang Tran Thu Thuy
Foreign Language – Informatics Center, MienTrung University of Civil Engineering
Abstract
Culture shock is not good or bad, it
is a natural process, affecting anyone
living, working or studying overseas. It
may be challenging for you to overcome
culture shock at first, but if you succeed
you will enjoy your life in the new
country. Factually, culture shock can bring
you various benefits. Firstly, you can gain
lots of traditions, customs, rules of
behavior and values in the new country.
Secondly, while you try to adapting and
adjusting yourself to the new country, you
are certain to be more adaptable and
open-minded, which help you a lot in your
work and life in the new country. Lastly,
your views of the world and people have
been broadened and the way you
communicate and treat people is also
improved because you know how to
respect and be polite to others. To
illustrate more about culture shock, eight
examples of culture shock are mentioned
and discussed. These culture shock stories
are experienced by people working and
learning in foreign countries.
Key words
Culture shock; benefits of culture
shock; stories of culture shock;
advantages of culture shock; culture
shock examples
It is very common for all people to
hear the phrase “culture shock”, however,
not many people really understand what
culture shock really is. To understand
more about culture shock, some materials
including articles, videos, studies,
researches and stories of various people
from some different websites are
consulted. To help people understand
more about culture shock, in this paper,
significant benefits are discussed and
some culture shock stories are told.
1. Benefits from Culture Shock
It is important to stress that culture
shock is entirely normal, usually
unavoidable and not a sign that you
have made a mistake or that you won’t
manage. In fact, there are very positive
aspects of culture shock. After recovering
from culture shock, you certainly gain a
lot of benefits in terms of understanding
culture in a new country in comparison
with your own culture, being more
adaptable and open-minded, developing
your communication skill and broadening
your view of world.
Firstly, to adjust to the new
environment successfully, you have to
acquire wide knowledge of culture in the
new country; the knowledge is perceived
in comparison with the basic
understanding of your own culture. In the
other word, after the process of adjusting
to the new environment, you have
understood various traditions, customs,
rules of behavior and values there.
Furthermore, by comparing all the
knowledge of culture you gain with one in
your own country, you can distinguish the
differences and find out the similarities
which are very useful for you in the
process of working or learning in future.
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Secondly, you are certain to be
more adaptable and open-minded after
the process of adapting and adjusting to
the new country. It is undeniable that you
have tried your best to adjust yourself to
be more and more familiar with the life
there. You change your eating habit, your
fashion, your hobbies, your way of
communicating and establishing many
new relationships with various people. In
other word, you life changes considerably
and you still enjoy it so much. To obtain
these changes, you must be an open-
minded person. Although in the beginning,
you may be a close-minded person or at
least are not tolerable of other cultures
right away, you are made to change your
points of view and your ways of living.
Without these changes, you are not able
to live and work in the new country
happily. Due to all the difficulties in your
new life such as the barriers of language,
the lack of cultural knowledge and the
effects of negative feelings, you tend to
become an open-minded person to enjoy
your life more.
Lastly, your views of the world and
people have been broadened. From all
difficulties you have overcome and from
all the cultural knowledge you have
gained, your points of view about the
world and people are better. You know
more about the customs, rules of
behavior, values and traditions of the host
country and of other countries in the
world through communicating with
international people in comparison with
the ones in your own country. This helps
you to improve the critical thinking. The
way you look the world seems to be
better and more optimistic. More
importantly, the way you communicate
and treat people is also improved. You
have realized that different people have
different ways of thinking and ways of
living mainly because of the influence of
their culture. Their behaviors are not true
or false; they are different because these
people grow up in different countries and
inheriting different values, customs and
traditions. Thanks to these changes in the
view of the world and people, you can
improve communication skills and
establish important relationships with
various kinds of people. These skills and
relationships are considered to be good
for you to succeed in work and life in the
future.
In conclusion, when you have
overcome culture shock, you become an
experienced person. All the experiences
and knowledge you gain will become
beneficial to you sooner or later. In your
work, in your life or even in your family,
these experiences may help you to be
successful and maintain an enjoying life.
2. Stories of Culture Shock
A lot of experiences and stories of
people ever experiencing culture shock
from various countries in the world are
searched in the Internet, however, in this
paper, only some significant and practical
stories will be stated and discussed.
Although these stories are from different
people in different countries, most of
them are from Vietnamese people living
and studying or working in America.
The first story, extracted from the
website
ck.htm, is an experience of an
international student when coming and
learning in Japan.
Years ago when I first went to
Japan, I had the shock of my life at a
public bath. As you might know, people
bathe in a shower area and then get into
a large hot bath without any clothing or
bathing suit on. At the end of my bath, I
was greeted by an elderly woman cleaning
the men's dressing room. Since you would
never encounter such a situation in my
culture, the discrepancy between my
culture and my experience in Japan
conflicted with my expectations, and thus,
I felt very out of place. From my
perspective, she shouldn't have been
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there, and at the least, she could have
waited until I was completely dressed.
In Japan, it is normal for an elderly
woman cleaning the men’s dressing room
to come to the room and do their job. She
does not care about who you are and
what you are wearing or nothing because
she just does her job. And, it is no need
for you to be shocked or astonished. You
should behave as if there was nobody.
The second story, extracted from
the website
/lifestyle/old/lifes98/france/index.html, is
an experience of an American junior
studying in Korea.
While we were sitting there in the
park, one guy threw away his cigarette
butt in the lake. Obviously, it would
contaminate this beautiful and shiny lake.
The colorful goldfish would continue to die
because of it. I asked him, “Hey! What are
you doing? Why did you do that?”
“What? How old are you?” the guy
said.
“I think I am younger than you,” I
said.
“Ha! Then just stay quiet. It’s none
of your business. I think you are really
rude!”
“What? Hey, think about the
goldfish! Are you going to be happy if I
throw a cigarette butt at you?”
He reviled me, and he tried to hit
me. I couldn’t understand why he was
angry like a mad dog. My friend
persuaded him and me to calm down. I
was really angry, so I just left that place.
Later, my friends asked me: “Hey! Why
did you do that?”
“What? What did I do?”
“You shouldn’t do that. He is older
than you!!”
“What? He was wrong. I didn’t do
anything wrong!”
“This is Korea. Even though he was
wrong, you shouldn’t blame him.”
This situation happens because of
the cultural differences. In America,
people feel free to say anything to anyone
despite the age. The younger can discuss
problems openly with or even give advices
to the older. The situation in the Korea,
on the other hand, is completely different.
You can only give advices, orders or
express criticism to ones who are younger
than you. It is regarded as impolite for
you to criticize ones who are older than
you and you have no right to do so.
The third story, extracted from the
same source as the second one, is a story
of a French student studying in America,
below are his feelings at the first time
being there.
First of all, I have found that in
terms of studies, there is much more work
here than in France. I had never faced
such an amount of work during the three
years I had spent at my university. I had
even studied American literature, but did
not have as many books to read as I do
now. For example, my Women Writers
class requires at least six books, not
counting the excerpts. I have read many
novels, and written many essays on them,
but I think what I have to do here is at
least five times as much as what I did in
France.
The classes here are also smaller,
which could make them more interactive.
But they aren't because most students do
not try to study together. This would allow
those who understand quickly to help
those who do not, but instead each
student works alone.
What I find fantastic is how the
professors are more approachable here
than in France. The students can easily
communicate with them during their office
hours without an appointment and
through e-mail. The professors really care
a lot for their students, especially for me
since they know that it sometimes can be
difficult for me to understand everything.
I really appreciate their attitude because it
has helped me a lot.
It has been hard to get used to
American food. Most of the time people
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eat sandwiches or salad and drink soda.
When I went to the dining hall for the first
time, I was completely lost. I did not
know the name of some of the menu
items presented to me. I tried to ask the
cooks how the food was prepared, but I
was not satisfied by their answers. I tried
to eat, but it was sometimes frustrating
for me to eat what I did not know for
sure. Sometimes I was really hungry, but
I did not want to eat.
The forth story, extracted from the
same source as the second one, is an
experience of a Colombian boy going to
Chile with his family. His problem is due
to the difference in the use of slang. He
and his father have to try to explain to a
waiter what they want but finally, they
have to use their body language to make
the waiter understand.
I moved from Colombia to Chile with
my family a couple of years ago, and
despite both being spanish-speaking
countries, the slang greatly varies.
Particularly, our word for straw ("pitillo"),
can be interpreted as a diminutive of
Chilean slang for joint ("pito"). On our
first night out at a fancy restaurant to
celebrate my dad's relocation:
Me: "Excuse me waitress, could I
get a joint? (straw)"
Waitress: "Umm... sorry, what?"
Me: "A joint, I just want a little
joint"
Waitress looks at my dad
Dad: "Didn't you hear the kid? Get
him a joint!"
Waitress: "I'm sorry... I don't think
we do that here."
Dad: "Come on! It’s a joint, how
hard can it be?"
We start realizing she might be
misunderstanding us.
Dad: "It’s a joint!"
We both pretend to hold our
fingers in front of our mouths and
inhale to simulate a straw...
The fifth story is cited by Quang
(1998). According to him, the Italian and
the American has differences points of
view in politics. The Italian tends to have
strong political statements while the
America seems to avoid this topic in
public.
The Italian made a strong political
statement with which he knew his
American friend would disagree. The
Italian wanted to involve the American in
a lively discussion. The American, rather
than openly disagreeing, said, “Well,
everyone is entitled to an opinion. I
accept that your opinion is different than
mine.” The Italian responded, “That’s all
you have to say about it? In general, the
American did not enjoy verbal conflicts
over politics or anything else. The Italian
actually became angry when the American
refused to get involved in the discussion.
He later explains to the American, “a
conversation isn’t fun unless it becomes
heated”
(Quang, N, 1998: 40)
The sixth story, extracted from the
website
8/28/culture-shock-benefits-and-
drawbacks/, is about a Vietnamese person
living in China. She tried to be familiar
with the eating habit of Chinese and she
succeeded.
When I first came to China I had a
big culture shock. My culture shock was
when I saw the food in china. They ate
reptiles like frogs and lizards and snakes.
I though it was disgusting and crazy that
a person would put something like that in
their mouth. I almost barfed when I saw
people eat these reptiles, dog or cat but
then my body said I would have to eat
these sometimes so I tried some and they
were not as terrible as I expected.
The seventh story, extracted from
the same website as the first one, is about
the experience of a Vietnamese student
learning in America. The picture of the
American life in her mind and in reality is
completely different and this creates her
shock.
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Before I came to the U.S for school,
I pictured that everything in the U.S was
extra large. In my imagination, everyone
was overweight, meals were big, and
clothes were huge. I even thought I could
only fit in kids' shirts and underwear. But
that was only my imagination.
When I first came to NWS, I was
shocked by the size of the school; one
single building with only three floors? And
there were fewer than 500 students in
total? Before I saw the building, I thought
I would have to run between classes so
that I could get to the next class on time.
I was wrong. Then I stepped into the
dormitory, and met my little 15 year-old
roommate. We met upstairs to find our
room. Oh my god! The room was so tiny
that I could reach the two ends within
three big steps. I didn’t have a choice; I
could only bear with it. I even teased
myself, “I was wrong about the XXL image
of America.”
Surprisingly, things worked out very
well. Being in a small school helped me to
know almost everyone in school and build
close relationships with the teachers.
Small class sizes gave me the opportunity
to express myself in class. In the little
dormitory, in the tiny bedrooms, I built
my deepest friendship with my roommate
and dorm-mates. Although my impression
was wrong, I was glad that it was wrong.
The eighth story, also from the same
source as two ones above, is the
experience of a Vietnamese student
coming America for the first time. The
misunderstanding happens due to his
inability of using appropriate language.
I still remember that three years
ago, when I first came to the U.S.,
everything was new to me. When at the
airport, I tried to look for my host mom.
When I met her, she immediately asked,
“Do you want to use the bathroom?” Since
I was taught the word “toilet” instead of
“bathroom”, I was confused by what she
was asking. I thought bathroom meant
shower room, and I replied, “I forgot to
bring shampoo and soap!” Although it
sounds stupid now, culture shock was
everywhere when I first got to this new
place.
From a forum of Vietnamese
students learning in English-speaking
countries, some small and practical stories
are collected and edited below.
The first story: a Vietnamese
student studying in America is introduced
to some new friends. As a habit, she asks
one of the new friends: “How old are
you?” to be convenient in addressing her.
However, the American student seems to
be strange and astonished by the
question. She smiles and has no answer.
In this situation, the Vietnamese
student has given an unsuitable question
because in America, it is impolite to ask
primacy questions such as questions
related to salary, age, physical
appearance, material status whiles in
Vietnam, it is common for everyone to ask
about other’s material status or age at the
first time.
The second story: A
Vietnamese student studies in America.
Students are from many countries in the
world. Once day, an Australian student
invited some students in class to go to his
house for dinner. He reminded, “Bring
your own plate”. The Vietnamese student
misunderstood that he asked her to bring
a plate to his house for dinner and she
was wondering why he asked her to bring
a plate. Then, she asked a Japanese
student who was also invited the meaning
of his sentence. She said that a plate here
meant something to share with everyone
such as fruits, wine or cake, etc.
The Vietnamese student was
shocked because in Vietnam, if you are
invited for dinner, you do not need to
bring anything. If you bring something,
the host tends to be embarrassed and
says that you needn’t have done this.
However, in this situation, the Vietnamese
student is reminded to bring something to
share.
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The third story: The first time, a
Vietnamese student in America, has
difficulty in dealing with addressing her
teacher. She hesitates in calling their first
names. In Vietnam, it is common to put
“teacher” or “professional” before their
names and she thinks she should precede
Mr., Mss, Dr or Professor before their
names but she realizes that other
students usually call their first names
when addressing them. She shares her
story with one of her friend who gets
married with an American man. She is
also embarrassed when calling her
mother-in-law’s first name. She wants to
call her “mum” but her husband does not
agree. He says, “It is my mum, not your
mum. Only I call her “mum” not anyone
else”. And when my friend has baby, she
calls her mother-in-law “mama”.
In English, it is rather simple to
address someone, you just call them
“you” despite their age, position or status
whiles in Vietnam, it is rather complicated
to address someone. You have to base on
their age, their status and their social
position to address them. For example,
you cannot call your sister or your uncle
by their first names; it is supposed to be
insolent because they are older than you.
You have to use a title plus their first
names like chị Hoa, chú Toàn. To call
your teacher, you should use the title
thầy, cô plus their first names such as
thầy Tuấn, cô Hạnh. It is the way the
younger person calls the old