结伴同行

请在路途中与我为伴, 不要热情, 也无需浪漫;
请在前方等我, 不要焦急, 也不要厌烦。
只待于与我同行。

Monday, October 5, 2009

Culture Shock文化冲击?

在给学生做的练习中读到这篇短文,觉得内容所描述的与自己最近几个月的情形有点点相似。很有意思,为此上载分享:
According to psychologists, there are four distinct phases that we go through when we experience a new culture. These phases, which help us to deal with culture shock, involve the way our brain and our personality react to the strange new things we encounter as we move from one culture to another.


Culture shock begins with the ‘honeymoon phase’, which refers to the time when we first arrive in a new environment and everything about the new culture seems strange and exciting. Though in a state of ‘jet lag’, we are nevertheless thrilled to be seeing new sights, hearing new sounds, learning new languages, trying out new food and enjoying a different pace of life. During this period, we feel we are involved in some king of a great adventure.

Unfortunately, the ‘negotiation phase’ of culture shock which follows can create much anxiety. Having settled down into a new life, working or studying or living with a home-stay family, we may soon long for food the way it is prepared in our native country, may find the pace of life too fast or too slow and may find the people’s habits annoying. This phase if often marked by mood swings caused by minor issues or no apparent reason. This ‘rejection stage’ can be quite harmful because we may develop unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking too much. This phase is considered a crisis in the process of cultural adjustment. As a result, many people choose then to go back to their homeland.

After six to 12 months comes the ‘adjustment phase’. This is when we grow accustomed to the new culture and develop new routines. At this juncture, we would know what to expect in most situations and the host culture becomes acceptable. Life becomes more ‘normal’ and we would be considered a survivor!

Finally, we have the ‘reversal culture shock’ (also known as the re-entry shock). Surprisingly, this occurs when we return to our native culture after growing accustomed to the new one. This then triggers off the same effects as when we initially entered a new-culture.

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