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Uyen
Joined: Sep 29, 2000
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culture shock
September 14, 2003 - 04:15 AM
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Hullo TIG world travellers,
I am writing an article on culture shocks, and would appreciate your inputs. When you travel abroad, either for work, study, conference, or as a tourist, have you ever had culture shocks? Please share your views, no matter how you "perceive" culture shocks. (I, for example, consider it culture shock when I stayed on a campus in Wales, and none of the dorms has any locks AT ALL, anybody who wanna get inside just has to slightly push the door; and the common bathrooms only have curtains, my goodness! If it were the same in my country- and others I believe- you'd be in big big trouble).
And when you encounter culture shocks, what did you do to overcome them?
Thanks a bunch.
Uyen
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Yara Kassem
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Re: culture shock
September 14, 2003 - 04:35 AM
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Hi Uyen,
It's a nice issue to talk about those cultural shoks,actually I've had the same experience as you when I was attending the World congress of youth in Morocco...
And I even had a lot of other experiences,like the different dialects of aracbic language..
Before I go to Morocco I thought that the language would never be a problem for me,but at the opposit I was shocked in the first day of my arrival that not only I couldn't understand a word of the Moroccan dialect,but i just found out that a word could have different meanings in the two dialects ( The Egyptian & the Moroccan)..
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Roentgen
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Re: culture shock
October 6, 2003 - 12:22 PM
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Nice thread. An experience which really come to mind was my brief visit to Amsterdam last year. I am a liberal person, open-minded, but Amsterdam proved beyond expectations. I have read a lot about it, including how homosexual marriages and use of marijuana are legal there. But to actually see people smoking marijuana was just so different. Marijuana is still illegal here and initially, I and my friends were sort of 'scandalized' since we thought marijuana can only be used at home. And to see prostitutes posing in their glass-encased 'places' (I really cant find a better term) was also jaw-dropping. As far as I'm concerned, people really have different values. Others might dismiss the Dutch way as too-liberal, but that's simply their way of living and celebrating life. And inspite of a very unfortunate incident of being robbed, I consider the city cool.
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Huiii
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culture shock in one country
October 8, 2003 - 12:32 PM
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Thanks for opening this thread, ExoticGal! That's a nice idea..
I experienced a culture shock staying in the same country. During a stay in Canada we went for a whole week in the wilderness in BC, with the canoe on the lake, in tent, etc. Only keeping in mind bears, moose, the next campground and wether or not it will rain.
After that fantastic experience we went to Toronto, so even if 4 hours flight away, still the same country. We stayed downtown Toronto, that was a culture shock!
From the wilderness to the skyscrapers and a lot of cars. and we felt really strange, because we didn’t even change country!
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Johannes
Joined: Nov 16, 2003
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Re: culture shock
November 19, 2003 - 12:16 PM
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Hey Uyen,
Great thread! I found that one can overcome culture shock by making friends. That was one thing that kind of got me through being in Burkina Faso. I'd have to keep reminding myself its not Toronto, its not the same! Also I think one good thing before you travel to a place is to kind of read up and do some research of cultural differences and norms. Like for instance shaking hands with someone when being introduced or taking off your shoes when you are invited into a home or something.
Hehe, I've found that Lonely Planet Travel Guides give good impression of what one could expect when travelling too 
Johan
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Ian Beacock
Joined: Oct 31, 2003
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Canada vs. Europe
November 20, 2003 - 11:00 AM
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One change I noticed, though I know it's not as extreme as some, was between Canada and Europe. I lived in Belgium for two months on exchange, and it is just amazing how what kind of difference an ocean can make.
Europe is so much more laid back and relaxed than North America, and seems to be more in touch with the things that really count. They spend several hours over lunch and dinner and don't work around the clock as you might see in New York or Toronto. I think that Europeans in general have their priorities straight - congratulations!
It's amazing that even though we are becoming closer as a global community, there are still so many things that set us apart, as this thread shows! Thanks for bringing this up, Uyen!
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