I have my own experiences of culture shock. Before coming to the University of Richmond, I came from an extremely diverse, kind of shady, neighborhood. Using curse and slang words was a cultural norm growing up. However, I has a slight cultural shock to find that is VERY little use of curse and slang words at the University of Richmond.
In elementary school, I went to a predominantly African American and Caucasian school. My family was possibly one of maybe three Asians family in the school. I remember experiencing a culture shock when I was asked why I was so tan, and if I was either a light-skinned African American or dark, Caucasian. Because I did attend a Vietnamese church and school on the weekend, I knew that my family wasn’t they only Asian family around, but as a child I was just shocked and couldn’t say that I was neither. I just remember laughing it off and not answering the question.
Because I plan to study abroad in Korea, I do expect to encounter some culture shock. Some positive ones that I’ve heard of are couples’ wearing matching outfits, restaurants and food stalls that open till very late, so I’m really excited. However, I have also hear of negative ones, but I am mentally preparing myself to not be too shocked.
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