Reading over my last entry just got me thinking how my attitude changed the longer I was there, found this little diagram that explains it nicely http://www.bohemica.com/.../culture_shock.gif . Im guessing the time frame for going through the stages is different for different people.
Excitement
The individual experiences a holiday or 'honeymoon' period with their new surroundings.
They feel very positive about the culture are overwhelmed with impressions and find the new culture exotic and fascinating. (Definitely experienced this stage)
Withdrawal/ Culture Shock
The individual now has some more face to face experience of the culture and starts to find things different, strange and frustrating. They can find the behaviour of the people unusual and unpredictable. They begin to dislike the culture and react negatively to the behaviour. They can feel anxious and start to withdraw.
(Began to experience this stage, I think the people that I travelled with experienced this earlier than me, maybe something to do with different personality types???)
Mental Isolation
Individuals have been away from their family and good friends for a long period of time and may feel lonely. Many still feel that they cannot express themselves as well as they can in their native language. Frustration and sometimes a loss of self-confidence result. Some individuals remain at this stage.
Adjustment and Acceptance
The individual now feels 'at home'.They enjoy being in the culture and can function well in the culture. The individual now has a routine and feels more settled and is more confident in dealing with the new culture.
Thats just the basic path of culture shock, again it will vary depending on personality, experience, country etc.
thats all for now...
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2 comments:
Hey Els,
Culture shock is an interesting topic. As you know I did a gap year after finishing year 12 and travelled through many parts of Europe and UK. I lived in England for twelve months and although some would think it’s so similar to Australia, to me it was completely different. I think also because I was only 18 and being quite sheltered that any exposure to a different culture would produce a shock. As I’ve lived in Australia my whole life I have been lucky to be exposed to multicultural nation. But I’m not sure if that even prepares a young traveller like me to experience life in a new environment. I believe I went through the four stages as well.
Excitement: In the beginning I was so excited to be in the new surroundings and definitely found the new culture fascinating. I was overwhelmed to be so far away from family and friends and couldn’t wait to do some travelling.
Withdrawal/ Culture Shock
So I arrived in England early January and by about March I was starting to really miss Australia (pretty early on huh?) I worked at an upper-class boarding school with children aged 4 to 13. The school was based in Sussex (one of the wealthiest parts of England). The children were well-behaved but extremely snobby, spoilt and obnoxious. I was responsible for the 13 year old girl boarders and had to make sure they were up and ready for school and that they had made their beds before they were allowed to go to breakfast. One morning I was on duty and politely asked one student if she was going to make her bed. She looked at me as if I had offended her and rudely replied “Are you serious Miss Hodge? Unlike in Australia most of us have maids at home for that sort of thing”. I was so shocked I couldn’t speak. Little comments like this were made the whole way through the year. It was frustrating to see that these children are so sheltered and babied no matter their age and had everything handed to them on a silver platter. A lot of the families that sent their children to this boarding school would have a nanny, cook, cleaners, maids, butlers, gardeners and the rest! So these sorts of attitudes from these English students took a long time to adjust to. I definitely found the behaviour of the students and their parents (when they came to visit) extremely unusual and unpredictable.
Mental Isolation
By about April I was homesick as I had been away form my family for quite a few months. It was easy to feel isolated in England, because there was hardly ever sunshine and blue skies like there is in Australia and I remember the sun didn’t come out for 16 days! But I managed to get through that.
Adjustment and Acceptance
I took a while to adjust, but eventually it started to feel more homely. I had become close to my work colleagues, caught up with my friends who were in other parts of England and had accepted the different cultures and ways of life. I eventually felt settled and actually got attached to the place.
So Missy, those stages you’ve listed certainly match up with my experience of culture shock.
Keep up the great work, Jac :-)
Hi Ellen, Great to see you getting into this topic - and a rich reflection from Jacqui.
I've added some culture shock links which might be helpful.
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