Question

Culture shock is the psychological difficulties experienced when living in an unfamiliar culture, and is characterized by homesickness, irritability, confusion, aggravation, and depression. If you have ever experienced culture shock, in which country did it occur? What did you do to overcome the shock or lessen its effects? Explain.

Answer 1

Although most of my experiences have been surprisingly balanced and pleasant. The first time I visited Japan was when I came across the phenomenon of culture shock. Being that most of the world try to develop itself in the image of the westernized or modern and developed countries, the architecture was similar but the culture was drastically different. Japan is unique, its people are different, the cultural sentiment is as strong as the and the people that follow it and therefore, the change of landscape, the overwhelming change, sense of color and a large crowd is most of the places, typically during a busy weekend was a bit too much to take in right away. While I have gotten used to such drastic changes with repeated visits, the first experience was one of the most challenging I have had to endure in my professional life.

Since this was something I was yet to face during my earlier travels, I just decided to give adjustments a little time. I tried to enjoy the inherent differences which overwhelmed me at first. I can say that language was the greatest barrier but as soon as I was in contact with my clients that spoke English, I realized that even with the differences, individuals were essentially following the same patterns and behavior. I also used sightseeing and meditation as a means to counteract the stress that had been built up, as soon as I realized that the jetlag added to the difficulties I had been facing initially.

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