Reflect on the Culture Shock video and your own experiences and expectations of culture shock
This culture shock video basically talks about how the international students at U of R feel or react to the cultural shock they have faced in the campus. For me, as an exchange student as well, I have experienced almost the same as they had. Such as the different teaching styles between here and my home university. Here, the professors in the class would expect all the students should participate a lot in the class, however, at my home school, all we do in the class is listen to the professors and take notes. Thus, when I first came to the class here, I felt nervous and depressed because I was not used to it before. Another interesting culture shock they have mentioned in the video is the greetings and the "small talk". Here, when people meet friends on the streets or the cashiers in the stores, when they see you they will always say " how are you?' as an opening, and it basically just another way to say "hello". However, when I first heard that, I was surprised because those were the people I just met and they cared about how was my feelings? So, I happily replied back and expected more information from them and they just left in a second without even replying me. I felt weird at first, but later a friend explained all the meanings of this, I found myself really funny. Thus, I think culture shocks are basically from all the small things in daily lives. For me, I can always expect the "big shock" before I experience them because they are supposed to be very different. However, those "small shocks" would really make me feel shocked at first, but after I understand them, I will find them interesting and kind of enjoying the differences.
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