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 more difficult to overcome. Conveniently there are a number of steps that can be taken in order to minimize the effects of both culture-shock and culture-stress. Missionaries often feel the effects of culture-shock and culture-stress the more than at other people as they normally do not have the support structure that other people do. In order for missionaries to adapt to the new cultures, they must prepare ahead of time.
There are many differences between a person’s home culture (the main culture of a person) and the local culture (the culture of the person’s destination), whether it is the speaking of a different language, different customs, different social structures, or simply the different way a person says hello. None of these differences are wrong in anyway, however they are different from a person’s home culture and therefore can become hard to accepts and overcome. The differences in cultures, although expected, are some of the hardest challenges a person entering a new culture will ha...
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“The Contact Zone”, is defined by Mary Louis Pratt as “the space in which transculturation takes place – where two different cultures meet and inform each other, often in highly asymmetrical ways.” Pratt describes what she calls ‘contact zones’ and elaborates on the pros and cons of these cultural interactions. She sees the contact zone as a place that allows people to exchange cultural ideas and break down the dividing cultural borders. When a contact zone is started, people are able to interact on new levels gaining a new perspective because they are able to collaborate with people from foreign cultures. If you are always with people of the same culture as you, you become used to hearing everything from the same perspective. With a new perspective, you can see your culture from a different point of view and reanalyze the logic behind your cultural traditions. Every ethnic/ religious/ regional/ cultural group has its high and low points, and it is just as important to learn about the low points as it is to learn about the highs. Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “how to tame a wild tongue”, focuses on the ideas of losing an accent or native language to conform to the dominant culture.
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It is not uncommon for an individual to describe a culture that is not their own as exotic, unique, or dated. However, they would be overlooking the idea and importance of cultural relativism on a global scale. It is understandable that a cultural aspect, different from what an individual is used to interacting in, seems hard to understand or too complex to recognize, but it is important to look at one’s own culture and others from multiple angles. The lack of familiarity of another culture that often produces words like “exotic” can be put away with a proper amount of time researching, understanding, and appreciating the normal behavior of another culture. In the paper, I will discuss the concepts that go along with cultural relativism and relate these to the stories found in “Nest in the Wind” and examples from our current society.
Language is crucial upon entering a new culture. Eventually all three girls were bilingual but at first they were not, this made it difficult for the girls. Without the language or like Jary the right dialect, entering a culture can become difficult. The second problem when entering a new culture is not forgetting your old culture. In all three cases, the girls were in contrast with their parents when coming home with the morals, rules, and phrases of a culture so distinct to that of their parents.
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I experienced culture shock we all do, as I have learned in this class, one of the most memorable was in rural Mississippi, when we went on a cross-country trip. My brother, his wife and I spent some time there with her relatives. I was the only city boy there, and while everyone was wonderful to me, I couldn't help feeling like a minority person with all the southern twang. They wanted us to stay there for dinner, and they had just been talking about the squirrel they had in the freezer, so my brother insisted on taking them out to dinner. Rural Mississippi was still quite a shock to me. Being a city boy, gay and being a young teen in the late 80s was a kind of a shock. It can be difficult to be the minority only, in the room, and I
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
Culture shock is a feeling of isolation, rejection, experienced when one culture is brought into sudden contact with another. Meeting a different way of living after moving to a new location, uncomfortable feeling of unfamiliar people, culture, etc. I’ve experienced a culture shock when I moved into United States from Russia. Everything felt so different here. At first, I was really quite, and didn 't talk to anyone. A lot of my time I spent watching “strange” people to try to adapt to my new country. People’s actions and views on life confused me a lot when I moved to the US. It was hard for me to find friends. The first thing I did was natural, I would look for people my kind, from Russia. That way I could communicate with them in Russian and find out more about the country I had just moved into. Then, I made a lot of American friends and that helped me to adapt faster. It took me a good three years to adapt to the country, people, different cultures, attitudes and a lot more. Having lived here for five years I 've gotten used to the country, and I really enjoy living here
Everyone reacts differently to new environments.While some are excited others are upset to have to leave important people behind. Culture shock comes in many different forms and sizes, some may find it harder to adjust than others. The difficulties to adjusting don’t always show up right away (TeensHealth). Culture shock is experienced in many different ways some common feelings are; sadness, loneliness, anxiety, trouble concentrating, feeling left out, negative feelings towards the new culture and frustration (TeensHealth). These feelings are temporary, eventually people get used to their surroundings. Although, many have been planning on the change for a long time, many still experience the impact of culture shock (International Students and Culture Shock). A huge majority of the cultures norms are based on language.
Culture has a big impact on how we all fit in as individuals in today’s society, and since this assignment is about that I decided to include some of my own experiences to illustrate my point of view and compare it with those of my classmates and some of the readings.
Cortez, Marc. Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: T&T Clark International, 2010. Print.
The authors of this report but a lot of information for current and new missionaries but what one can take out this information is that all culture are different and when missionaries go out and encounter they need to be sure that they hold true to what the bible says but also have respect for the culture so they can also honor the culture they are meeting.