Culture Shock Essay - 2172 Words

One of the biggest hindrances to people living in a new culture is the initial culture-shock that people experience, as well as the culture-stress that occurs as time progresses. When a person enters a new culture, there are many noticeable differences from his/her own culture. These differences have been labelled culture-shock and culture-stress. It is the initial differences, which is called culture-shock, that often cause worry, fear, and sometimes withdrawl. However, these can be easily overcome through preparation and changes in attitude. As time progresses, there will be other issues that will start to appear that can become even more troublesome; these are called culture-stresses. The problem with culture-stress is that it is a lot†¦show more content†¦These initial cultural differences that a person sees and experiences have been labelled Culture-shock. The dictionary defines culture-shock as â€Å"a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxi ety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation †. What this means is that the person will feel out of place due to the differences in culture. Culture-shock normally starts in earnest at about six months after arrival , however its effects can be felt right away. Culture-shock is an issue that occurs individually, can last longer, and can reoccur or the situations change . After the issue of culture shock has been overcome, a person will still come up against form of culture-shock called culture-stress. Culture-stress is a feeling of anxiety or annoyance at the small cultural differences in the local culture; these differences are often because a person does not understand the smaller nuances and how they differ from the home culture. The dictionary has no formal definition of culture-stress, however it does define stress as â€Å"one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibri um, † which is simply to say that stress is a tension that will knock you off balance. The dangers that culture-shock and culture-stress cause are mostly related to the attitude of the person trying to adapt to the new local culture . However, the fear or anger that culture-shockShow MoreRelatedEssay on Culture Shock1163 Words   |  5 Pagesanswered with a smile â€Å"the heat is running aunty† whatever she meant I did not understand, although she spoke in English she had an American accent which took me long to adapt and decipher. My brother knowing that I will definitely experience culture shock, started giving me tidbits of what I would expect. I remember him saying â€Å"This is America my sister, they speak different here, many things have different names from home†. 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