Culture Shock

         All around us we emerged in the culture of our society. But what is really culture? Henslin defines culture as the “language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that characterize a group and are passed from one generation to the next (201, p. 36). For example as American adults most of us speak English, own a cell phone, and many other things that people would consider “normal” behavior. When traveling to another place most people encounter culture shock. Culture shock is when you become “disoriented” because the different the culture’s different norms and behaviors. The assumptions that one makes about their own culture are no longer there. Culture shock can range from a small shock or to an extreme disorientation. An example of small culture shock is when traveling to Europe one may notice that no one wears athletic attire and are dressed nicely. People may experience extreme culture shock when traveling to places like the remote parts of India where begging children are constantly asking for money.

            I experienced culture shock when traveling to Europe two years ago. I had just being traveling all day and we had finally touched down in Amsterdam to go through customs.  Unfortunately to go onto our next flight we once again had to go through airport security. Exhausted I went through the normal steps of security, take off your belt, put your bag on to the conveyor belt, and take off my shoes to go through the scanner. Stepping through the scanner I heard an angry security guard yell, “We are not in America anymore take your shoes!”.  A European couple in front of us started laughing at my classmates and I. This was only the beginning of my realization that the security guard was right; we were no longer in America. Throughout the trip we went to places in both France and Spain where no one spoke English. I had not spoken Spanish in over two years and my French was not the best. Hand gestures became an essential way of communicating. It also came in handy that whenever paying for something the price was displayed on the register. These places though became the ones that I enjoyed the most. During the trip a group of us got lost in Barcelona, Spain for three hours we got so turned around because we kept finding all these “carrer de” streets. 

Taken by Alyssa Grimaldi

Finally we admitted defeat handed a cab driver a business card for hotel asking him to take us there. Turns out we were three blocks away and “carrer de” means street in Spanish.  Culture shock is not always bad and not always severe. It could be something little or extreme. One just has to keep an open mind to the different culture and make the most out of it.

Have you ever experienced culture shock? Does culture shock happen within the United States?

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach, 11th Ed. Boston: Pearson.