Learning Journal 5

[Maddie Philips]

I thought "Culture Shock" was interesting because of the fact that it used our own students to talk about the differences between their home country and coming to the U.S. as a student. I hadn't realized how difficult it was for some people because I am so comfortable in my own culture. My own most memorable experiences with culture shock came when I was fifteen and went to France to live with some close family friends for a month. Even though I had gone to France every year since I was a baby, it was very different living with a French family that it was living with my own. I remember it was really tough to be so far from my parents, especially since I'd never been away from them for more that a week before, and it was especially tough to be speaking French the whole time. Although it was tough for a month, I think subconsciously I just believed that it would get better over time, which was why it was so surprising to me that other people had such a hard time adjusting.