I found the Culture Shock video to be very interesting. I have never experienced culture shock on such a large scale, but I can definitely understand how the students came to feel the way they did. I also thought that their stereotypes about Americans were very interesting (and not entirely unfounded). It made me really appreciate my friends who are from different countries and how well they have adjusted to life at UR and in the United States.
I have never been out of the country, but I have experienced culture shock in small doses. Last summer I worked for my dad's commercial painting company and the majority of his employees are El Salvadorian. I spent most of the day surrounded by people who did not speak my language, but had to communicate with me. I speak Spanish, so I was able to communicate with them, but they had certain characteristics that I had to learn. For example, instead of calling lunch "almuerzo" or "lunch" they called it "lunche." I was confused for the first week or so until someone told me that they just made up their own word for lunch. They then spent most of the lunch time talking about soccer, something which I know very little about. I tried to participate when I could, but it was difficult. There were also other native Spanish speakers who worked in the same building who were not aware that I knew Spanish. They would often talk about me very obviously, unaware that I could understand them (but it was always nice things, so I didn't mind too much).
I also received a bit of culture shock when I attended my first ASL religious meeting. It is incredibly difficult being in a place where everyone speaks the language but you and I'm sure that many people who have experienced culture shock have had this same thought.
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