Even though the film was made seven years ago, the issues discussed in Culture Shock are still incredibly relevant. Some of them I’m very familiar with, while others introduced different matters that I had not heard put in words before, yet had experienced it. Issues such as how to respond to American greetings like “What’s Up?” or the role of silence in different cultures.
The matter of how to respond to greetings like, “What’s Up “or “How are you?” in America is one with which I am quite familiar. Since I am American, I have the luxury of the cultural knowledge behind the various contexts in which the greeting does come up and how to respond appropriately. I sympathize with international students that find themselves in awkward situations when they realize that the person that asked them the question doesn’t actually want the real answer. One student from the film recounted his experience in that situation. Aside from being frustrating trying to figure out when to actually answer and when to fake it with a thoughtless, “I’m fine,” people are faced with the feeling that people don’t actually care about how they are. That can be even more isolating when someone is in a new place different from their home.
Although I am an American, I too have problems with the greeting customs. I found myself nodding with the comments from those interviewed, how insensitive Americans are, why ask if they don’t really want to know. These are all statements that I’ve made in conversations with fellow American friends. While I don’t find myself feeling isolated, I do share the same frustrations even though I was actively perpetuating the issue. For years I’ve been trying to avoid adding the “How are you” after the initial “Hey” when I know that I’m not interested in chatting or don’t have the time to really listen and engage with the person. It has taken me years to be able to do this and I still mess up from time to time.
Another issue brought up was the role of silence in different cultures. This is something that I’ve never confronted in this context, but makes a great deal of sense. Going back to the matter of greetings, those can be answered via silence. Personally it drives me absolutely mad. Prior to the segment in the video, I had never really thought about the role of silence across and within cultures. I’m looking forward to asking my tutor about how silence is interpreted in his culture. I wonder if there are any gender-dependent differences even though Persian is a genderless language.
Something that did bother me about the film were the comments from one of the deans of the school at that time. She spoke on how valuable international students were to the American students in that they can teach them about their culture. She was calling for international students to reach out and take the first steps to engage with domestic students. While I understand the good intentions behind the comments, I couldn’t help be put off slightly, given my “minority” status in this country. I don’t think it is the responsibility of an international student to teach the “ignorant” American students of their culture; especially if they are the ones who have to initiate the conversation. While there is definitely something to be said about owning one’s experience and taking the first step, I think reciprocity should be considered as well. I find it to be asking quite a lot of people to come to a new country and then start putting yourself out there. Where is the compassion for human vulnerability? At one point in the film American students seemed to be defended for being shy or withdrawn around international students. Where is the defense for the international students? I think both sides should be encouraged to engender intentional engagement with each other. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of the minority group.
Overall I came to really enjoy the film. I appreciate everyone who shared their stories and experiences, even if they didn’t really want to. While I have had the opportunity to experience my own form of culture shock when I studied abroad in New Zealand, I found that this video reinforced and added to my experience. I would propose that this be screened to all incoming students, domestic or international, in an effort to spread awareness and encourage people, especially those familiar with American culture to lend an open ear or helping ear to others who may be struggling with the adjustment.
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