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Moving from a highly diverse community to a less diverse community has to be the weirdest yet interesting culture shock I ever had to deal with. As a young child, I did not know about the outside world. I thought everyone rides the bus or the metro, graffiti on the wall is normal and traffic wouldn’t matter as much since everything I needed was within walking distance sometimes. There were shocking things I learned once I moved to Nebraska. My role as a kid in California was pretty simple. But I knew that would change within time, what I didn’t know that the change would be in a dramatic way. In California, I would say my ascribed status was towards in the lower class. At this time, my parents were young, stressed and both unfortunately lost their jobs due to budgets cuts in the companies they were working for. During this time I thought to myself what if we eventually have to start hunting for our food such as those live in hunting-and-gathering societies (I watched a lot of television as a kid). I don’t blame my parents for not giving me everything I wanted as a kid, I now realize that when they would tell me they couldn’t afford something I wanted, those weren’t excuses but justifications. …show more content…
I was not used to talking English all the time, which was a major culture shock for me. I was so used to talking Spanish in school, in restaurants and in stores, that it never occurred to me that it would be the opposite here in Nebraska. Another thing was that nearly everyone was Caucasian. I was considered a minority in this new community. Which I was completely unaware that there was such a thing until I grew older. I was confused and nervous starting a new school because I thought I was going to be the only Mexican in the class. Turns out I wasn’t, I was
Everything for a year had been leading up to this point and here I was in the middle of the happiest place on earth in tears because my friends had abandoned me in the middle of Disney on the senior trip.
A sudden change in one’s surroundings can result in culture shock. Culture shock refers to the anxiety and surprise a person feels when he or she is discontented with an unfamiliar setting. The majority of practices or customs are different from what a person is used to. One may experience withdrawal, homesickness, or a desire for old friends. For example, when a person goes to live in a different place with unfamiliar surroundings, they may experience culture shock. Sometimes it is the result of losing their identity. In the article “The Phases of Culture Shock”, Pamela J. Brink and Judith Saunders describe four phases of culture shock. They are: Honeymoon Phase, Disenchantment Phase, Beginning Resolution Phase, and Effective Function Phase. These phases denote some of the stages that exemplify culture shock. The four phases are illustrated in the articles “New Immigrants: Portraits in Passage” by Thomas Bentz, “Immigrant America: A Portrait” by Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut, “When I Was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago, “Today’s Immigrants, Their Stories” by Thomas Kessner and Betty Boyd Caroli, and lastly, “The New Americans: Immigrant Life in Southern California” by Ulli Steltzer, and are about the experiences of some immigrants. This essay will examine the four phases of culture shock and classify the experiences of these immigrants by the different phases of culture shock identified.
My experience with culture shock is far different than what one would expect from a freshman in college. My experience does not fit the mold of what someone would normally think of as culture shock. I have never struggled with the idea of adapting to a new environment, simply because moving place to place has been a constant factor in my life. My culture shock revolved around the idea of being subjected to a set of ideas that I had never been subjected to. My culture shock was experiencing the death of my father, and my mother being diagnosed with cancer in a span of two years. These events required me to grow up faster than I imagined I would ever have to.
When one first moves to a completely new and unfamiliar cultural environment, assuredly he or she will experience cultural shock and disorientation. Culture shock can be from many different aspects, for examples, climate, foods, language, custom, social etiquette, environment and etc. Culture shock might cause depression, homesickness, confusion, sadness, frustration, in which one has to overcome when arrived in a new country. Personally, I had experienced culture shock when I first arrived in America from FuZhou, China; I felt lost and confused. Similarly, Tanya, who is from Kharkiv, Ukraine had experienced cultural shock and had felt unsuitable because of foods, school, and living habits when she came to America one and a half years ago.
On the first day of school, I was in culture shock. There were so many different races of people: from Whites to Asians to Hispanics to Blacks. This diversity was foreign to me and the only diversity that I was exposed to ...
I received a voice mail today from Sean McKnight stating he has a meeting setup with Ken Barber and some other individuals on the executive board of Illinois Joining Forces (IJF). I felt it was my duty to inform the group about some important facts that Mr. McKnight is very good at hiding. I met Mr. McKnight during my time at NIU. I just served my time as the NIU Veterans Club president and decided it was time to let someone else take the helm. Matthew Galloway the current Veterans Club president introduced the club to Sean McKnight at a veterans club meeting. Sean came in and presented himself as a seasoned veteran’s advocate who has many connections throughout the state of Illinois and Washington D.C. He promoted his organization that he was starting Warriors Guarding Warriors as a revolutionary concept that has not been thought of as for yet throughout the veteran community. Finally, he offered his services to any veterans having trouble with VA benefits or the medical process. At the time we did not know that he was not officially certified to help veterans, and nor did he actually know the proper process or paper work needed to help our fellow veterans. Sean offered to be the Veterans Clubs mentor. The club held a vote and
First time out of the wire and on patrol but not with first platoon, First Sergeant moved me to second platoon just the day before. The night insertion that we conducted that night went without a hitch. The soldiers that were in my truck took turns throughout the night behind the weapons system which was an M-240B. At zero eight in the morning of the next day patrols started around the bazaar by the dismounted troops. I was coupled with the PL* and conducted familiarization patrols so that I could get eyes on the sector from the map that was issued to me the night we left. Starting off at the far limits of the sector we went to position E (east) and was instructed on what the sectors were as was the activities that had been conducted the previous
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
Brick walls are always going to show up in our lives to prove to us how badly we want something. One brick wall that I have faced in my life has to do with when I was younger and played softball. I was the newest member of the team and I had never played the sport before. I was always interested in watching softball, and finally decided to play on a recreational team with my close friend. All of the other girls had played for a few years already, and had grasped the skill. I on the other hand, was just learning all of the skills and wasn’t the best. Each practice, I would really try hard to play at the same skill level as all of the other girls, but it was hard to instantly be good at something new. Eventually, the games started to begin and
In my early years of Elementary School I was in a neighborhood with a lot of children who were from different cultures. When I was in third grade I moved to the next town over and went to a different elementary school. This elementary school was completely different considering it was out in the country and only white children attended this school. At that age I was used to Hispanics, Latinos, African-Americans and Asian Americans. When I changed schools, it was almost frightening to see all white students. Even though I went to a school with children that I looked similar to, I did find out that we were all different in our own way. In this school we had a lot of different socio-economical classes present.
After countless hours of uncomfortable naps and tasteless meals between flights, we finally arrived at the unfamiliar land of America. Leaving all our dear friends and families behind, I was told that we came here in hope of a better future, my future specifically. I was never really socially active and at the time, English was a whole new concept that I have yet to understand. The inability to communicate with other makes it even harder for me to express myself and it mold my personality to become more antisocial than I ever was. There’s always this uneasy feeling that linger when someone talk to me and I cannot give them a response and it’s even harder to say something because I was afraid of making a mistake and make a fool out of myself.
Arriving here, my surroundings were different; I was not used to seeing such clean streets, peaceful neighborhoods, and order between the citizens. It was culture shock at its finest. Not only with the surroundings was I surprised, but the experience of education was different as well. There was an array of diversity within the students in my class. Nonetheless, people were genuinely accepting. Within a couple of months I considered myself a fluent English speaker. The transition was like riding a bike, I quickly felt incorporated into the society that I feared would not accept me.
I grew up having more than the average kid. My parents bought me nice clothes, stereos, Nintendo games, mostly everything I needed and wanted. They supported me in everything I did. At that point in my life I was very involved with figure skating. I never cared how much of our money it took, or how much of my parents' time it occupied, all I thought about was the shiny new ice skates and frilly outfits I wanted. Along with my involvement in soccer, the two sports took most of my parents' time, and a good portion of their money. Growing up with such luxuries I began to take things for granted. I expected things, rather than being thankful for what I had and disregarded my parent's wishes, thinking only of myself. Apparently my parents recognized my behavior and began limiting my privileges. When I didn't get what I wanted I got upset and mad at my parents somehow blaming them for all my problems. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't a bad kid, I just didn't know how else to act. I had never been exposed to anything less than what I had and didn't realize how good I had it.
“Why don’t you use your locker? You’re going to have back problems before you even graduate”. These are words that are repeated to me daily, almost like clockwork. I carry my twenty-pound backpack, full of papers upon papers from my AP classes. The middle pouch of my backpack houses my book in which I get lost to distract me from my unrelenting stress. The top pouch holds several erasers, foreshadowing the mistakes I will make - and extra lead, to combat and mend these mistakes. Thick, wordy textbooks full of knowledge that has yet to become engraved in my brain, dig the straps of my backpack into my shoulders. This feeling, ironically enough, gives me relief - my potential and future success reside in my folders and on the pages of my notebooks.
You could honestly say that everyone’s jaws dropped, and to my surprise one of the kids looked and me and told me I need to go sit at the right end of the table with the rest of the white kids. At first I had no clue why the kids thought this way until I met their families. This type of segregation was obviously passed down for generations. Some of my white friend’s parents actually didn’t want them to hang out with me when they found out I had a mixed brother. Even though I was not familiar with this type of situation, it did not stop me from being friends with everyone that I possibly could. After a few weeks in my new environment, I accomplished getting some of the different races to play with each other on the playground! Another more recent encounter with other cultures occurred when I started dating my boyfriend. He is actually the first generation in his family to be born in the United States. His father’s family is from Italy and his mother’s family is from Cuba. I always take on the challenge of trying to learn everything about his families’ cultures. It always gives me lots of laughs when trying to communicate through the language barrier with his grandpa! From the beginning, I have always found it fun to learn and understand different cultures and backgrounds of the people I