Have you ever had a huge culture shock?!
Question: Where was it and how did you contend with it? Thanks :-)
Answers: Where was it and how did you contend with it? Thanks :-)
yep! when i went to Pakistan! they were NO blacks or whites! i was so upset! when i got back to England i wanted hug the first black/white person i saw!!
nope
ive lived in the us all my life.
My first trip outside Europe. It was to Sri Lanka. Best thing to do is relax and go with the flow.
no i don't think so
Narita airport, Japan. It couldn't have been that bad though because I stayed two years.
Yes, in the back of my school ..How did I deal with it? I cried
Yeah in Liverpool.
I've not personally experienced it, but I would imagine that if I encountered a situation where I was outside my realm or personal comfort level culturally, I guess I would try to use it as a learning experience. Things are shocking or scary only because we don't understand them; if a person tries to learn from a situation, it'll be less stressful.
yes. when i moved back to malaysia from california i was shocked by how the teachers at a government school treated their students so i homeschooled for 4 years before moving back to the states.
I haven't really been to another country, but I have been down South (South Carolina). They are so much more friendly down there and the pace is so much slower then here in New York State. I actually liked it so I didn't have to "contend" with it.
Yes, when I was 15 I moved from San Diego, CA to a small town in Ireland. Everything was different, especially school. I coped, because I made life-long friends. And I enjoy a challenge.
Yes. When I joined the Army, I was sent to Germany right after Basic and Advanced training. It was quite a culture shock but the place I was stationed was so wonderful I had the best 3 years of my life there. Then I had another culture shock when I moved from Germany to Fort Lewis, WA. I hated it there.
Yes! i have been a Catholic all my life, then my boyfriend took me to a Non-Denominational church...BIG difference!
When we moved from the north of the US to the south. Things are really inefficient down here. The people are nice enough, but everthing is so slow. They really have a different idea about what is important (and it's not getting things done and getting on your way.)
We are also more of a minority here and there's a lot more racial tension. Sad.
When I was in Florida at Universal Studios I was in an area of the park and all around me were people speaking spanish. I could not pick one white american person out of the group of people. I honestly felt out of my element. In my own country I felt weird because there were so many people speaking another language. It was very weird and I know its a fact of life now in the USA but it made me feel like a minority and in my own country that should not happen.
Yes, when I was 18 I moved from Iowa to Okinawa Japan for a year. Talk about a shocker! I decided that I was going to learn everything I could about their culture and it really helped. I made a lot of friends and ended up really liking the place.
Yes in Cuba, those people there are the most beautiful and amazing that I have ever come across, they are as poor as church mice, earn a pittance for a wage, have very little in the way of clothes and furniture but they would give you their last penny and do anything for you and they never,ever stop smiling, made me feel very humble and so grateful for what I have.
This site was a huge shock to me.
I had no idea some people would form such sustained hatred towards people they have never even met.
Guess I've been lucky in real life. I just don't understand the abuse and insults here
cultural changes in real life are easy to cope with, there are reasons for those.
lol i was in egypt, came to canada SHOCK!! so quiet!! and and so organised clean streets rich ppl aaah wat the hell weres all the dirt..!
Yep, travelled to Luxor. And you get over it by just going with the flow.
Good luck.
yes i am from europe and visited the usa.
it looks weird to me but i didnt know exactly what it was. when i walked outside i had the impression to walk inside a building.
later someone explained to me that this is because i only know usa from television and movies. when seeing it in real it looks strange without exactly knowing why / what is strange.
this was in san fransicsco, i was also told if i would have been in las vegas the shock would be much more
This last summer - being stuck in Ukraine 5 weeks longer than I'd planned to be there. I hated the blatant corruption, the driving, the lack of customer service and nasty attitude of store clerks and the lack of personal space - such as people pushing and shoving while in line at McDonald's.
How did I handle it? I tolerated it and lived for the day I could leave.
I hated it. I have no desire to ever set another foot in that country.
Hmmm..... Maybe when I left Massachusetts for Alabama. I tried to be respectful, patient, considerate, and just did my best to adapt to life down there while maintaining myself. I learned a lot. I felt smart, which I wasn't used to feeling. I grew up in a very competitive town and usually felt less smart. It was a nice change and helped me realize what life is about and what matters. It helped me to see the bigger picture.
Yes I'm from Ohio I moved to Philadelphia PA at 15, then I moved to the UK when I was 19 although that really wasn't much of a shock .... And I've been to Amsterdam which is a strange place. Sex is everywhere, I mean literally sex toys are right next to the food in stores but it was neat!
But visiting the Philippines was the biggest culture shock of my life!!! It was like another planet. There were no big stores for buying anything ... Everything was sold on the streets. I understand Tagalog enough to get by thank god but it was strange being a blond haired blue eyed girl amongst all these dark skinned Asian people. But it was really beautiful and fun there ...
Besides becoming a parent, which is by far the biggest culture shock, I went from working with high-risk parolees for the Illinois Dept. of Corrections, where "customer service" was not quite with a smile, and I often issued and processed warrants; to working in customer care with Verizon Wireless where I had to be extremely nice to people while at the same time maintaining a certain average as far as time spent on calls. I could not shake these people off the phones for the life of me, and I couldn't hang up the phone on them. I lasted 3 months there before they fired me because my calls took too long. I didn't really grasp the "happy customer service" thing.
In Mexico, 5 year old girls selling gum on the street at 11pm. That was difficult to deal with and witness. I still do not agree with it.
More than one actually but the one that really shocked me was in CUBA its like going back in time and the people have nothing under the communist regime.
Hello,
I moved the kids to the city. Oh boy !! It was something!!
We did not mean to stare at situations, such as two guys holding hands and all over each other. One guy was wearing a skirt. The traffic was horrible!! But the stores were open all night long!!
How did I deal with it, as soon as I felt my disabled son was ready to move back home(he was being seen by doctors and getting his health in order) we came back home :0) Against doctors advice up there, and I found out we do not have the kind of health care here, but.....it is so expensive to live in the city too!! I had a street rod at the time which was not a car for the city LOL!!
Yes. Ive been to many places from Spain to the USA and the biggest cultural eye opener for me was when I went to Amsterdam. I apparently stayed in a rough area about 30 mins away from the centre and It amazed me how many different races and religious groups were living there and speaking Dutch. Maybe it was because I knew nothing about the Netherlands before I went.
Yea Moved from small town in arkansas to St Louis Mo. big shock Mostly the driving everyone wanted to do 90 in town
Yeah
When I moved to yemen. Im from Scotland and I moved to yemen 6 years ago for 3 years and now im back in Scotland i wish i was still in yemen. Although yemen was a huge culture shock at first I made great friends learned the language and I loved every minute of it !
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