Culture shock

Culture shock
Living and working in a foreign culture can be lonely and frustrating; we must disregard much of our own cultural background in order to get along in the new situation. In the process of shedding our cultural preferences, we often experience what is called culture shock.

This is not limited to anthropologists; if you have ever spent much time outside your own country, or even in a different subculture within your country, you have probably had a taste of it.

Culture shock is the feeling of depression and frustration that overcome people when they first begin to comprehend the tremendous difference between the way of life they are used to and the way of life in the new setting. It happens to all people, not just anthropologists but immigrants, tourists and anyone else who must get used to different way of life.

Why does culture shock occur? In the process of being brought up in a society, every person is trained to accept the values of the group and to follow its unwritten rules of behavior. But it does not stop, for acceptance if a particular way of life is not based simply on fear of punishment or social isolation.

As part of the process of learning a culture, we are taught to believe in that culture, to feel that it is the right way and the best way to live. Its value are not merely seen as the ones that fit that particular way of life; they are thought to be the best ones for all people. Any way of doing things that does follow the same value system is wrong, if not repugnant.
Culture shock