Culture Shock

Warbsywoo

Warbsywoo

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Hi. This is Warbourne. Originially from Manila, the Philippines and now living in California, USA.

Culture shock happens when you get transplanted from one place to another and you know nothing about the customs of your destination, in my case the US. So the shock kinda refers to the 'know nothing' part and you struggle to adjust and stuff and it gets really hard to identify cultural differences and cultural stereotypes and popular cultural references.

For example, I hardly knew what the hell baseball was since its not as popular back in my place as it is here, unlike in...virtually the whole world:P.

Or in reverse, I heard a friend talk about how she got culture shock by the leaving the US for a third world country (...guess which?...). She wasn't used to the poverty that the native people were used to.

So, point being, if you've ever experienced culture shock, post your thoughts. What was it that shocked you the most, be it the culture, the fact that you got new friends all of a sudden (it really doesn't matter if it was only a vacation or something, there's still the shock factor i.e. you can't figure what the heck someones saying)?
 
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Whoa...Manila, Philippines? I was born there. ^_^ But I was raised in Quezon Province and came to California when I was only seven. Anyway, we need to talk! =)

About the topic...yes, I have experienced culture shock. I first went to school in Santa Monica, California...and there were a diversity of people in that area. I remember feeling scared and left out because I couldn't really understand what the other kids was saying. Most of them spoke Spanish, and I didn't even know what the heck Spanish was at the time.

However, I was actually good in English because of the fact that I went to a private school back in the Philippines. So our courses and curriculum came from the U.S, even the text books we used. So when I came to the U.S, I knew English...I just didn't quite comprehend what was being said because they spoke so fast. I think it took me about a month to fully catch on.

But I read better than all of the kids in my class, which surprised the teachers. Heh, it was funny because we were doing a group reading out loud, and our teacher asked me to read...she began to assist me, "The...boy...in..." and I looked at her with a puzzled look...then took it from there. I guess I read it so fast that the kids all looked up from their text books and was looking at me.

Anyway, I'm kinda rambling here. Hmm, when I first came here, I was amazed at so many things. For instance, a toaster. My first few months, I toasted a lot of bread, and ate so many peanut butter and jelly. Then there were the cars. I have never seen such extraordinary vehicles! I remember when we were on the freeway, I just stared out the window, looking at the wheels and its cool-looking plates. I was in awe. -Shrugs- They were really shiny...

To top it all off, even though I saw and experienced many new things, I was still sad because I was always looking for "home." I missed the whole laid-back attitude from people in our country. Here in the U.S, everything is so fast-paced. It kinda drives me nuts. And you're always inside your house because the neighborhood is usually empty and not many people or kids are outside. In our country, there are ALWAYS people outside, kids playing, jeepney's passing by and blaring their horns, etc. I guess I miss the noise.

I suppose you could say in a way, I still have culture shock lurking somewhere in me. But not so much anymore since I have learned to adapt my living style here. And life is good, I guess. But I think I still prefer the simplicity of life back home...

 
Never experienced it. I moved from Australia to the UK 19 years ago but it wasn't so bad as many of the cultural references are the same or similar and both places speak english. I was stumped on a few of the local sayings and such but nothing major. Also, my Mum is english and my grandma lives here in the UK, so I was not really dropped into a culture shock situation.
 
Well I was born Cagayan then moved to Manila and then to Australia when I was 4. The only culture shock I got was when my younger cousin punched me because I couldnt speak english at the time hahaha!

I have since forgotten how to speak visayan but can nderstand more visayan than tagalog
 
I've experienced culture shock a lot I gotta say, my family when I was nine took me and my brothers around the world on a 42 foot sailboat (meaning we werent hanging out in resorts at all and instead actually saw the countries). I think the first place that really shocked us was cuba because it was the first poor country we visited. All the stuff we had taken for granted in our life they never get there. For example they get a dozen eggs a month if they are lucky, if they arent it will be none. When we first went on the trip we always never really cared for beggars because, to be honest in Canada and the U.S. if you're homeless there will probably be a reason for it, booze or drugs or simple laziness stops you from holding a job that can allow you to take care of yourself properly (there are some exceptions of course, but in general I believe that to be true). In the third world countries pretty much everyone is born into poverty with no way out of it.
 
^ wow you're well travelled... yeah im totally with you on the poverty situation in third world countries... alot of them work hard but dont get the rewards...
 
I've only moved from one side of the country to the other, and that alone was kind of a culture shock to me. Especially since I had previously only known one gay person in my life time, and I had never before seen piercings on a person's face or funky colored hair. XD

I took a vacation to Wales once...
Suprisingly though, it wasn't a culture shock at all..

I've also been to mexico...ghetto mexico...which was altogether...odd.
We were walking through the market and I saw an entire pigs head, freshly skinned and bleeding everywhere...o_O
Some of the houses were made of tin and wood...
Let's just say I'm glad to live in america...
 
A gentleman I once knew experienced culture shock when he moved here from his native lands of Africa. Where he came from, the people were a lot closer and the families were tightly knit. I believe he was twelve, and let his younger brother, who I believe was seven at the time sit on his lap. The other children in the class made fun of him, and he couldn't understand why.



Warm regards,
~The Legendary Wullfe
 
Sadly, making fun of other people for their traditions is the greatest sign of international ignorance.
It's like they never even knew foreign communities existed.
Why can't they just respect other people's cultures instead of making fun of them?
 
Well, yeah I guess.
But foreigners or cultural outsiders take it roughly though.
I've seen many people who have gotten discouraged because of the treatment.

But, if that's what they feel like doing, then, I guess it should be fine as long as it doesn't cross too far beyond the border into racism.
 
Indeed. People always have, and always will fear what they don't understand. It's perfectly normal for human beings to fear change, the new and foreign.


Warm regards,
~The Legendary Wullfe
 
I have been out of the country once. But my culture shock came from visiting friends in America where i'm from. I went to Iowa. And my friends are Caucasion. I'm Black. So i went to visit. I was in total shock. They liked to swim in murky water. The little boy was masterbating and they didnt say anything. They cooked dinner and it had no seasoning. Which is all different from what i am use to. But even though they are that way, they i never laughed or complained. Certain things i didnt do, like swim in murky water. But they are good hearted ppl. And i just had to be patient and rememeber that that was how they did things. But i know when i came home and saw black ppl, i was like, "Yay, black ppl." Cuz it was strange not seeing them every day like i was use to. So culture shock can be in your own country.
 
Yeah, I see the point in that...large countries like the US tend to be multi-cultural, no?
Therefore it should only be expected. I mean, there are things like Little Italy, Chinatown, and many others that are just little cultures in themselves.
It's kind of interesting what happens when different cultures collide. ^_^
 
Seriously it is very interesting. Certail cultures are alike so the shock isnt that bad. For instance, Blacks and Mexican don't have thats bad of a shock. But Blacks and Africans have culture shock. Because Africans come from a male domineering society. Blacks are use to woman doing whatever they want. Its very interesting.
 
Yeah, culture differences work in really strange ways, like in what you said, when someone like say a Chinese-American actually goes to visit China for the first time, it's a complete shock because the two values are so different.
The food, the customs, the values, just totally opposed or something so different that it's hard to adjust. ^_^

Which I find interesting and would like to find out what that truly feels like in the extreme sometime.
 
Aha, found the topic!

I actually had a culture shock when I lived in Ohio for about three years. The people in this particular city that I lived at were so different. >.> I have never seen so many theft or heard of people getting shot everyday. Most of the attitudes were quite shocking. I was actually afraid to step out of our neighborhood area. The lifestyle was quite different - it wasn't fast-paced like California. A lot of people drove slow, dressed in their pajama even when going to work or shopping at a store, smoked a hell lot of cigarettes it was insane. I missed California and by then, I knew that I wanted to be back 'home'. Funny that in my previous post a few years ago, I considered the Philippines as my only 'home'. Now I consider both as home because when I moved to Ohio and experienced culture shock, I had realized that I took California for granted and didn't really appreciate my lifestyle here. I love the city, I really do, even though now l prefer to live a quiet lifestyle. Funny how one's views can change sometimes.
 
Well I've never moved out of state. I have always lived in Queensland.

However last year I moved from my country home and into the suburbs (about half an hour drive away) with my partner.

I have never been more miserable =( It is truly disgusting. It is made up of druggies, kids (around the age of 12) who stay out late hanging around the service stations with older druggies. They sit on their bikes smoking, wearing no shoes (bad idea considering people leave needles everywhere) and it looks like they've missed their bath for the last few days.

They think they're cool? I always see kids and even olderpeople riding around on bikes.

Q: Why do their parents allow them out late at night?

A: They don't exactly allow them as that would mean knowing what your child is getting up to. They're just so off their face they could care less what their kids do.

My parents would never ever let us go and behave like that. What kind of sick world are we living in?

Where I used to live the streets were clean and the area was always pretty quiet. No parties, no cops, nothing bad ever happened.

Now where I'm living there has been at least 3 shootings around the corner in the last year and peoples houses are always getting broken into. There a cops EVERYWHERE.

It is really the unhealthiest place to live for bringing up children. You never see anyone at the shops with shoes or decent clothes on. They literally get out of bed and come down in their PJ's to shop.

How embaressing? But because everyone (besides a select few including myself) does it, no one can really say anything.

It was a huge shock moving into that area and I'm currently househunting closer to home again.
 
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I remember being shocked at the way the waiters and waitresses in the restaurants in America so shamelessly begged for tips. There was one woman in a pancake place who spoke to us for 15 minutes about how she makes a habit of chasing people along the street if they leave without giving them tips. Tips are practically unheard of over here and the heavy reliance on them was quite eye-opening, though I understand it's because of their low wages.

I also remember laughing in France when I saw how careless some of the drivers were and how recklessly they had parked in the streets. xD
 
Not about me, but about my cousin. When we went to the Philippines a couple weeks back he was so culture shocked by the place. He hadn't been there in more than a decade when he was still a little kid and he couldn't remember how bad everything was.

He was absolutely amazed that the lines on the road meant nothing to drivers. Motorcycles would squeeze in 2 foot spaces between cars and buses, taxis would care little about pedestrians, and jaywalking was very common.

The slums I think hit him the most. When I told him that's where I used to live he was shocked that anyone could even live there tbh. :wacky:
 
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