6758 Culture Shock Stories

CULTURE SHOCK STORIES

Task 1: You are going to read 6 stories taken from Etiquette He !orum on t"e to#i$: Cuture s"o$k stories%  !or questions 1&1'( $"oose )our ans*ers from t"e #eo#e +,&!-% Some of t"e $"oi$es ma) .e required more than once% once% /ote: 0"en more t"an one ans*er is required( t"ese ma) .e gien in any order %

 According to the article, which person/ people: people: irritated his/ her relative

1

made a false assumption

2

experienced awkwardness awkwardness in his/her living place

3

predicted herself/himself herself/himself to be struck with awe

4

5

was forced to do what he/she thought as impolite

6

contracted an illness

7

was taken aback by some people’s disregard of security

8

complained about strict regulations

9

experienced substandard living conditions

 10

led an urban life

 11

was struck by intense fear

 12

got treats thanks to his/ her look

 13

got confused with dishes’ names

 14

WHAT’S WHAT’S YOUR CULTURE CULTURE SHOCK SHOC K STOR S TORY? Y? Six posters shared their experience of sudden exposure exposure to a different culture on Etiquette Hell Forum

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!hen " was living in #ondon there was an interesting experience $y %unt has a place in the country and a house in #ondon " had always visited

C

her at her country place& and stayed at a hotel in

" spent six months as an exchange student

#ondon However& that time " came to live with her in

in the =etherlands and the smallness was probably

#ondon !hen " landed at Heathrow& " grabbed a taxi

the biggest surprise& even though " knew to expect it

and gave the driver the address' " got to the house and

thought

to

myself

(hmmwonder

what

" lived in a dorm type apartment with maybe ten other students& male and female "n Finland it+s

apartment she lives in(

almost always gender>separated and having to share )hat was until " rang the door bell and the butler

the bathroom with a strange man who wasn+t in the

answered and " asked him which apartment my aunt

habit of locking doors 2"+ve only recently found out

lived in His response (*ou must be the %merican

that in some countries the custom is to knock on the

$adam is in the library waiting for you& she has tea

door and not lock it3 was a bit difficult for me " had

and sandwiches waiting& "+ll take your bags up to your

lived with roommates in Finland but it was always 7ust

room )he library is the second room down the hall(

two or three people in an apartment& not eleven and

)urns out what " assumed was an apartment building

we only had two toilets and two bathrooms with two

was her actual house& " always assumed that most

showers each 2in the bathroom that was on my side of 

people lived in flats in #ondon since housing was so

the apartment one shower stall didn+t lock and the

expensive

other didn+t work properly3 and three sinks )here+s

 %nd then there was the whole (chips are not potato

nothing wrong with that kind of housing but "+m very

chips& they are French fries( incident that left my aunt

shy and even brushing my teeth when someone can

,-F# .0 at a pub when " ordered a sandwich and chips

walk in 2the bathroom didn+t really have a door3 made

thinking " was getting potato chips and not French

me uncomfortable )he others didn+t seem to mind

fries

and walked around half>naked " tended to get up

.0

before the others and went to bed when they were

,-F#1 2"nternet slang3 ,olling on the floor& laughing

cooking dinner at ? pm " think that they found me very strange

B " was visiting my father+s small Southeastern $innesota town from #os %ngeles "t happened to be the town’s 45th anniversary and there was a parade through the main part of town -lder relatives were in the parade for their 45th anniversary' their home was in town a block away from the parade

D !hen " was young& my family moved to )urkey )he first shock was walking into the airport bathroom and finding nothing but a porcelain hole in the ground " cried the entire way to the hotel "t didn+t take long to figure out we were out of our element For me it was the adventure of a lifetime

So my cousin told me we could walk to their house

For my mom 2who had four children under the age of 

and use the bathroom " fought& saying 6we can+t 7ust

six3& it must have been more like a nightmare 2!e

go into their house and use the facilities& they’re not

four kids all came down with chicken pox the first

home )hat’s 7ust rude8& my cousin thought " was

couple months of moving there3

insane and went into the house " was desperate so " followed her feeling really guilty

)he city we lived in was dirty& overcrowded& and had rats the si@e of cats 2" remember trying to +pet the

)hat was until " saw the dessert bars on the kitchen

kitty+& only to have mom )ank me a*a)3 !e

table with a note (9ust help yourself: Happy 45th

couldn+t drink the tap water& there were earthquakes

%nniversary ;umbrota:(

and power outages on a regular basis 2we+d be in the

$y cousin was also annoyed with me because " kept locking the car (!hy in the world are you locking a car<<(

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elevator at the most inconvenient times3& and oh: )he roaches: Aut as " said& for a kid it was awesome )he )urks would fa*n oer my siblings and " as we were blond haired and blue eyed !e got pinched on the

cheeks& and be given sweets when we walked by

wanted and used the launderette as they pleased and

pastry shops

the only rules related to music volume " found the

" remember the day " found what " thought was a dinosaur bone in the playground at school> later " found out it was 7ust a sheep+s leg bone leftover from

rigidity of the hall rules difficult to ad7ust to& not least because everyone else in the hall took them so seriously

the sacrifices that had been made a few weeks

 " also found the fact that there were C students on

previous 2we would line up along the playground wall

my corridor and D bathrooms " was one of only D

to watch it happen3 !e got to ride horse and

women " had a hard time ad7usting to sharing

buggies& see bears dancing in the streets for money&

bathrooms with that many men $ost of them did not

and the beaches were magnificent 2despite getting

lock the door& and had a fairly relaxed attitude to

stung by 7ellyfish3 %nd holy cow& the baklava was

nudity in the communal areas

good:

F

E " think for me the greatest experience of 

" am a city girl " live in a large city& and

culture shock was my semester in Bermany as a

for most of my adult life " lived in an apartment with

student " couldn+t get oer how the hall of residence

people on all sides =ow that being said& " went to

worked

visit my best friend in "daho %t the time she lived in

*ou arrived and checked in and were

introduced to the floor monitor who always had the last room on the right of the floor 2that was a rule3

a mobile on 4 acres out in the middle of nowhere " was shocked SH-EG that they didn+t lock the

He 2in this case3 gave me the key to the fridge and

doors and left their car keys in the car& unlocked !e

told me which shelf " was allowed to use )his was

took a trip to *ellowstone one day& and when we got

then marked on the diagram of the fridge that he kept

back " had a panic attack because the front door was

and replicated on the diagram that was on the fridge

wide open )hey said (!ell& ya& it+s hot:

door -ne of my friends was on a floor where you

want it to be too warm in the house:( !e were gone

had to book your cooking time 2when you wanted to

%## G%* with the front door open:

use the cooker3 on a weekly schedule

!e don+t

)hey have now moved about 5 miles to another little

)he floor monitor sold the tokens for the washing

town and have sold the mobile and the land )hey

machine which you reserved by booking it in the

have a lovely cute house and they told me when the

reservation book *ou were only allowed to do one

sale was final& there weren+t even any keys for the

wash per week )he same thing applied to the tumble

doors

drier

S)"## no keys for the locks " got up one morning to

" had come from a fairly aid.a$k single sex English hall of residence where people cooked when they

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)hey+ve lived there for a few years now and

discover they left the front door open because& well& it was H-):

Source: Retrieved on May 14 th 2011 rom http://www!eti"uettehell!com/sm/inde#!php$topic%&0'(2!4)  Task 2:  !ind t"ese *ords and #"rases in t"e te3t a.oe and tr) to *ork out *"at t"e) mean from t"e $onte3t% T"en $"e$k )our ideas .) mat$"ing t"em *it" t"eir definitions% 1%

4et oer

A. to praise someone too much and give them a lot of attention

2%

Yank some.od)5 somet"ing a*a)

B. to pull somebody/ something forcefully with a quick movement

%

!a*n oer

C. relaxed

'%

aid.a$k

G to understand

Task : You are going to read an e3tra$t retrieed from a *e.og 7 8e$oming Un.ound% !our #aragra#"s "ae .een remoed from t"e e3tra$t% C"oose from #aragra#"s 1&6 t"e one *"i$" fits ea$" ga# +,&9-%T"ere is one e3tra #aragra#" *"i$" )ou do not need to use%

CULTURE SHOCK: THE STORY OF A FRENCH EXCHANGE STUDENT

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Guring the current semester& spring ??I& " have been

" guess the difference between the French educational

studying at )he ollege of =ew 9ersey on exchange from France& where " live as an international student )hough "

system and the %merican system is that in France& the courses cover a particular sub7ect in depth& whereas here

am a citi@en of the western %frican country of ameroon& " spent the ma7ority of my life in the entral %frican ,epublic where " completed my elementary through high

the classes embrace a large range of topics& but more superficially However& the interesting point is how the classes are more alive here than in France because the

school education

%merican students are more apt to speak and to express their opinions clearly on a sub7ect

1

)he classes here are also smaller& which could make them

lasses in France are organi@ed the same way they are here in the JS& in a semester system )he only difference is that students can graduate after three years instead of four " was about to graduate when " resolved to spend some time in %merica " decided to

more interactive Aut they aren+t because most students do not try to study together )his would allow those who understand quickly to help those who do not& but instead each student works alone

learn more about English>speaking culture before " move ahead for my master+s degree in )ranslation from English

4 !hat " find fantastic is how the professors are more approachable here than in France )he students can easily

to French

 2 First of all& " have found that in terms of studies& there is much more work here than in France " had never faced such an amount of work during the three years " had spent at my university " had even studied %merican literature& but did not have as many books to read as " do

communicate with them during their office hours without an appointment and through e>mail )he professors really care a lot for their students& especially for me since they know that it sometimes can be difficult for me to understand everything " really appreciate their attitude because it has helped me a lot Source: Retrieved on May 1* th 2011 rom http://unbound.intrasun.tcnj.edu/archives/lifestyle/old/lifes98/france  /index.html 

now

3

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% For

example&

my

!omen

!riters

class

G " can remember my first days in one of my

requires at least six books& not counting the

classes where " was struggling because we

excerpts " have read many novels& and

had to work on computers " felt nervous

written many essays on them& but " think

because " was not able to use the computer

what " have to do here is at least five times as

and listen to my professor teaching at the

much as what " did in France

same

A !hen " first came here everything looked so big1 the streets& the buildings and the cars " was not too surprised because %merica has

time

"t

was

really

difficult

and

challenging for me& but with the professors help& " can say that " feel more comfortable now

always been presented to me as the country of dreams where everything is giant " was excited by the idea that %merica was no longer 7ust an imaginary country& but a real country in which " had to live for a while " have already been here for a month>and>a> half 2at the time of this writing3& and " have noticed some ma7or differences between the countries

C. )he other thing that astonishes me is the difference students

in here

terms have

of

technology

easier

access

)he to

computers& allowing them to go to websites for research "n France& some people have computers at home& but the ma7ority does not have access to computers at all %t my university& there are two or three computer laboratories& but they do not meet the needs of around C&555 students " have never even heard a professor mention an address for a website )he fact is that they know how hard it is for students to access the "nternet

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E Eight years ago& " moved to France to study English at the Jniversite de Saint>Genis 2Karis L"""3 " decided to come to the Jnited States a year ago when " reali@ed that in order to further my English studies& " needed to live in an English>speaking country

Key: Task 1:

1.B

6.B

11.F

2.A

7.D

12.F

3.C/E

8.F

13.D

4.C/E

9.E

14.A

5.C

10.D

Task 2: 1–D

2–B

3 –A

4–C

Task 3: 1–E

2–B 4–C

3 –A