Friday, July 13, 2007

Adjusting to Culture Shock

If you have ever visited a new culture, then you know that culture shock can happen, that is, a feeling of disorientation or confusion in which the rules of your culture no longer apply. I remember in one country I visited that the distance between speakers was greater, and when I moved closer to my conversational partner, the person moved backwards. Then, I felt uncomfortable being so far away, so I moved closer again. This cause a lot of confusion. Now, share your personal story on culture shock and how we can adjust to these differences.

Randall

1 comment:

  1. I have never visited a new culture; however, I think I experienced what it is like (culture shock) when a couple of friends from the States came to visit me here in Brazil. I'd always thought that most Americans were introverted people and that they were not really tactile people. To my surprise, the first
    thing they did was to give me a hearty hug and kiss me ( on the cheek - of course! :-)) when they saw me at the airport. I felt very disoriented because I didn't expect that and didn't know what to do. Hehe!

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Thanks for posting a comment. I appreciate your interesting in sharing your ideas.

Best,

Randall

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