Culture Shock

Cultural shock is caused by the anxiety that results from losing all the familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs include a great many ways with which we are familiar in the situation of daily life: when to shake hands, how to go shopping, when to accept and when to refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously and when not.

When a person is suffering from cultural shock, there may appear some important symptoms. First he rejects the new environment that causes the shock. He grumbles about the host country and its people. Another symptom of cultural shock is regression. The home environment suddenly takes on a tremendous importance. To him everything there becomes irrationally glorified. All the difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered. There are also some other symptoms of cultural shock, such as excessive washing of the hands, excessive concern over drinking water, food dishes and bedding, fear of physical contact with attendants, the absent –minded stare, a feeling of helplessness and a desire for dependence on long-term residents of one’s own nationality.

CANADIAN Corey Allen, 22, tied the knot with a Chinese girl Molly Chen, 20, during the Spring Festival in Shenzhen, thus starting a journey of culture shocks.

The first shock was the traditional Chinese wedding. Dressed in red Chinese clothes, Allen had to answer questions about the bride before he could “fetch” her. She was sitting in a sedan chair covered in red silk. Allen experienced many other tests later, such as running around the wedding venue while carrying the bride.

“It’s absolutely different from Western weddings. It was a lot of fun,” said Allen.

He was also moved when the father-in-law presented the young couple diaries he had kept for his daughter since her birth.

“My father-in-law is very energetic. He likes to take pictures. He looks 50 but his heart is as young as 25,” Allen said.

The father lavished praise on Allen. “The boy is persevering and honest. He likes to debate with me about things he thinks unreasonable. He is also caring for the elderly. We like him very much.”

“But I was really shocked when I first learned that my daughter would marry a foreigner,” the father said.

“My daughter called just two hours before their wedding ceremony in Canada. Later I found out I hadn’t received an email sent by her two weeks before.”

A corporal in the Canadian military, Allen specializes in computer engineering. He found Shenzhen a paradise where he can buy the most up-to-date hardware.

The newlyweds will spend their honeymoon traveling around China

The influence of culture is so powerful that one can almost always, when reading a book, recognize the nationality of the author, even if it has not been mentioned. This applies to our work too - we are from Holland, and even when we write in English, the Dutch software of our minds will remain evident to the careful reader. This makes reading the book by others than our compatriots a cross-cultural experience in itself, maybe even a culture shock. That is okay;

studying culture without experiencing culture shock is like practising swimming without water. In the booming market for cross-cultural training there are courses and books that try to show only the sunny side: cultural synergy, no cultural conflict. Maybe that is the message some business-minded people like to hear, but it is false.

In my research Holland scored clearly individualist. In individualist societies, sons are less likely to follow in their father's footsteps than in collectivist societies. People from collectivist societies tend to praise Gert Jan for carrying on his father's work. People from individualist societies sometimes speak of the 'son of' in a rather derogatory way, indicating the son might not have any ideas of his own. Gert Jan does not worry, for he was an independent academic of 40 when he started collaborating with his father when his own discipline, Information Systems, was swept towards intercultural communication by the rise of the World Wide Web. We are pleased to have both our names on the new edition.

After studyig abroad for one year or two, a number of overseas college graduates return to China, their motherland in a hope to settle down if they find satisfactory jobs. However, before long, they find themselves in a predicament resulted from reverse or re-entry culture shock; namely, the cultural diffferences between two different countries stand out and come to clash before their eyes and in their mind.

First, they feel uncomfortable with some uncivilized public behaviours they oftern see on streets or socialize with others, such as not queuing for public transport, spitting on the streets, being nosy about others’ private affairs, to name a few.

To many of the returnees, culture shock found in corpaorate context is more frustrating than that in a societal context. In foreign companies abroad, it is very common that juniors may argue or discuss about their work with their seniors if they hold a different view, just for the good of the work. The boss would either take the argument or leave it, without feeling he is being humiliated or having his authority challenged. However, in a Chinese work place, which is characterized by a rigid hierarchy, staff at the bottom of the ladder are in no position to challege their seniors whatsoever.

Another often –cited shock concerns working overtime and how it is perceived in a Chinese work place. In China or other Asian societies, bosses tend to think their emplyees are their assets and hence working overtime is a matter of course. As it is, those who work overtime when it is time to go home usually do things unrelated to their work during office hours. Some of them deliberately work overtime to show to their boss that they are hard-working. But in a culture that extols individuality, 100% Americans choose family over work. The one who makes the alternative choice is considered a workaholic.

The job situation and the work environment are not so good as overseas returnees have anticipated. The fierce competition for limited positions between the overseas returnees and the college graduates at home has changed the whold situation unfavorable to overseas returnees who are now in a dilemma as to what step to take next and how to face the reality.

Many travelers go through an initial period of euphoria and excitement, overwhelmed by the thrill of being in a totally new and unusual environment. As this initial sense of \off, they gradually become aware of the fact that old habits and routine ways of doing things no longer suffice. They gradually (or suddenly) no longer feel comfortably themselves. If this happens to you, as it is likely to, you will feel like the outsider you in fact are. Minor problems

may quickly assume the proportions of major crises, and you may find yourself growing somewhat depressed. You may feel an anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse, a kind of pychological disorientation. You will indeed be experiencing what has come to be referred to as \Shock\Such feelings are perfectly normal, so, knowing this and with a bit of conscious effort, you will soon find yourself making adjustments (some quite subtle and perhaps not even noticeable at the conscious level) that will enable you to adapt to your new cultural environment.

There is no clear-cut way of dealing with culture shock. Simply recognizing its existence and your accepting vulnerability to it is an important first step. As long as you know in advance that you will probably fall victim to culture shock at a certain level, you can prepare yourself psychologically to accept the temporary discomfort and turn it into an advantage by learning from it. Remember that you are not the only one experiencing occasional frustration, irritability, and depression, etc. Falling victim to culture shock, in other words, does not imply the existence of any psychological or emotional shortcomings on your part. As Robert Kohls says, \is in some degree inevitable... and is the occupational hazard of overseas living through which one has to be willing to go through in order to enjoy the pleasures of experiencing other countries and cultures in depth.\

Undergoing culture shock is in itself a learning experience that you should take advantage of. It is a way of sensitizing you to another culture at a level that goes beyond the intellectual and the rational. Just as an athlete cannot get in shape without going through the uncomfortable conditioning stage, so you cannot fully appreciate the cultural differences that exist without first going through the uncomfortable stages of psychological adjustment.

Non-verbal Communication

If anyone asked you what were the main means of communication between people, what would you say? That isn't catch question. The answer is simple and obvious. It would almost certainly refer to means of communication that involve the use of words. Speakers and listeners - oral communication, and writers and readers - written communication. And you'd be quite right. There is, however, another form of communication which we all use most of the time, usually without knowing it. This is sometimes called body language. Its more technical name is non-verbal communication. Nonverbal, because it does not involve the use of words. NVC for short.

When someone is saying something with which he agrees, the average European will smile and nod approval. On the other hand, if you disagree with what they are saying, you may frown and shake your head. In this way you signal your reactions, and communicate them to the speaker without saying a word. I referred a moment ago to \average European\because body language is very much tied to culture, and in order not to misunderstand, or not to be misunderstood, you must realize this. A smiling Chinese, for instance, may not be approving but somewhat embarrassed.

Quite a lot of work is now being done on the subject of NVC, which is obviously important, for instance, to managers, who have to deal every day with their staff, and have to understand what other people are feeling if they are to create good working conditions. Body language, or NVC signals, are sometimes categorised into five kinds: 1. body and facial gestures; 2. eye contract; 3. Body contract or \

of speech. I expect you understood all those, except perhaps \This simply means \is quite normal for people to stand close together, or to more or less thrust their face into yours when they are talking to you. In other cultures, this is disliked; Americans, for instance, talk about invasion of their space.

Some signals are probably common to all of us. If a public speaker (like a professor, for example) is all the time fiddling with a pencil, or with his glasses, while he is talking to you, he is telling you quite clearly that he is nervous. A person who holds a hand over his mouth when he is talking is signalling that he is lacking in confidence. If you start wriggling in your chairs, looking secretly at your watches or yawning behind your hands, I shall soon get the message that I'm boring you. And so on. I'm sure you could make a whole list of such signals - and it might be fun if you did.

All the signals I have mentioned so far can be controlled. If you are aware that you are doing these things, you can stop. You can even learn to give false signals. Most public speakers are in fact nervous, but a godd speaker learns to hide this by giving off signals of confidence. Other kinds of NVC are not so easy to control. Eye contact, for instance. Unless you are confessing intense love, you hardly over look into someone else's eyes for very long. If you try it, you'll find they will soon look away, probably in embarrassment.

I've already mentioned proximity, so just a brief word now about our last two categories, which concern the way people dress and the way they speak. These are both pretty obvious signals. People may dress casually and speak casually, which signals that they are relaxed. Or they can dress formally and speak formally, showing their tenseness. In fact, non-verbal communication can, as the saying goes, speak volumes.

非语言的文字的交际

假如现在有个人问你，什么是人与人之间的主要交际手段，那么你会说什么？这并不是一个能把人难住了的问题。这个答案简单而又明确。这几乎可以肯定，指的就是用语言文字作为交际手段。讲话的人和听讲的人用口语进行交际，而写家与读者用书面文字进行交际。对了，你答得相当正确。但是，还有一种交际方式是我们大家在不知不觉地大部分时间都在使用的，这就是我们有时称为的身体语言。身体语言的更加专业化的名称就是非语言交际。之所以称为非语言文字的，就是因为这种交际是不用语言文字进行的。缩写是|NVC。 当某人谈了某件事，大多数的欧洲人若是同意了某人所说的事，那么这个欧洲人就会微笑并点头表示同意。相反，若是你这个欧洲人不同意他们所说的事，那么你可能皱眉并摇摇头。用这种方式你表示了你对他们所说的事的反应意见，你就一句话也没说就把你的反应意见传达给了跟你讲话的人。我刚才提到\绝大多数欧洲人\，因为身体语言与文化习俗有很大的联系，为了不致误解别人或为了不被别人所误解你必须意识到这一点。例如，一位华人在微笑时很可能并不表示同意，很可能表示某种有点难为情不好意思。

关于\非语言文字的交际\这一研究课题现在正进行相当大量的工作。比如说，这一研究课题对于经理、总管之类的人员来讲，很显然是重要的。经理之类的人员每天都必须同员工们打交道，并且必须明白，如果经理人员能创造出一个良好的工作环境，那么别人都会有什么感觉。有时可以把身体语言，或者叫非语言文字的交际信号，分成五大类：（1）身体的姿态和面部表情；（2）目光的接触；（3）身体的接触或者\亲近度\；（4）衣着打扮和天生的长相；（5）讲话的态度攻内容。我想，也许除了\亲近度\而外，这一切你都明白。这就是讲\亲近到什么程度\。在某些文化习俗当中--我敢肯定这是某一民族的风俗文化的特征，