Nowadays, internationalization and globalization are a common
knowledge to people all over the world. No matter they agree or not, the
process cannot be stopped. It plays an important role in many fields, such as
trading, economy, politics, scientific studies, arts, and etc. We can read a
lot of articles from the internet or books talking about internationalization
and accepting different cultures. Culture became a more and more popular topic
around the world. People in China know Hollywood while people in the US know
the Great Wall. But people usually have different opinions and reactions when
they are in different situations. Generally, it's easier for younger generation
to accept a different culture than older people. And there are other reasons
like religions, values, and even personal habits affecting people's choice. As
an international student in the US, I'm facing different situations every day
and I'm really curious about people's views on this topic. With the process of
globalization, how can we do better to understanding other cultures?
Furthermore, how can we live in a culture which is different from our mother
culture? Is that easy or hard?
When talking about the problems related to culture, the first thing people would thought about is culture shock. According to Wikipedia, culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, a move between social environments, or simply transition to another type of life. From the first day here, I did feel many difference and difficulties, even I used to travel abroad for a while. The shock I felt most didn't come from what I didn't know, but came from something I already knew. Before I came to UI, I read many articles online describing how was the living like in the US, and talking about some tips for living and studying abroad. But when I arrived in the US, many things were not the same as what I read. Not everyone was friendly. When I happened to look into someone, I tried to smile and be kind, but some seemed to be uncomfortable by being stared. Not everywhere was clean. Gums were hidden under seats or tables. Not everyone was quiet in public places. Some people talked loud in library or played music loud late at night. When I faced a real world which was different in many aspects from what I used to know, I got shock more than knowing things I didn't know. But this is a short-term feeling. It's not hard to accept. After a few days, I refreshed all impression I had before I came here and actually started to learn new things. I started to use Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter besides social medias I used, and watching videos on YouTube and Netflix. Everything looked interesting to me. Walmart is bigger and has different products. McDonald's is cheaper and has different food. And I could know many new stuff from American friends. Our university has an awesome gym with climbing walls and large swimming pools. Life looked great here. Everyone in school can have one or more laptops and they are usually much cheaper than in China. Our campus is very large and full with great equipment. At that time, I thought I almost went through the culture shock and would be accustomed to life here in the future.
But I was wrong. After one or two months, I felt to have new difficulties. When I tried to introduced something more about my hometown and my culture, I found sometimes I'm still lack of grammars and phrases. And I couldn't express accurately. Also, when I attended a lecture and professor said a joke, everyone laughed out but I couldn't get the point. That was very embarrassed. I studied English for years, but I felt there was still a language barrier lying between me and my American friends when I tried to talk more. Or when I chatted with American friends, I didn't know about or wasn't interested in things they were interested in, such as football games. That made me seem to be boring, but I didn't mean to be. I tried to learn more about American history, literature, and popular culture. But I found I just dig into a very thin layer after a large effort. I have some American friends, but we are not friends who can talk everything with each other. To be more specific, I want to tell or ask them something but I'm not sure if they would be interested in, and I guess they may have same feeling. According to an article from UCI website, Culture Adjustment has six phases, preliminary stage, initial euphoria, irritability, gradual adjustment, adaptation and biculturalism, and re-entry phase. I felt I struggle in adaptation and never over come it.
Sometimes I would talk with my Chinese friends about this. I surprisingly found many of them had the same feeling as I did. It's easy to make friends with Americans but it's not easy to keep the relationship. Maybe living in a different culture shares this characteristic. If we want to live in the US for a longer time, we still have a lot to do. But good news is the young can usually accept new thing more easily.
As a result, it's not easy to actually live into a different culture, but easier to understanding or accept another culture. And maybe this topic is more personal, I didn't find many academic research about it. So situations may differ depending on different people with different ability to adapt new environment.
