The Rotary Youth Exchange
Experience:
Culture Shock
and
Reverse Culture Shock
Dennis White, Ph.D.
dkwhite@itol.com
www.yeoresources.org
What is Culture?
Culture
An integrated system of
learned behavior patterns
that are characteristic of
any given society. It refers
to the total way of life,
including how people think,
feel and behave.
What is Culture Shock?
Culture Shock
The profound sense of
disorientation and discomfort that
comes with extended travel or
living in a foreign culture markedly
different from one’s own.
Metaphorically, culture
is the lens through
which we view the
world.
You can’t trust your eyes
when your imagination is
out of focus.
Mark Twain
What is
Ethnocentrism?
Ethnocentrism:
The universal
tendency for any
culture to see its own
values and practices
as natural and correct.
Ethnocentrism:
All cultures are
ethnocentric - and
must be to impart
their values to their
members.
The most common ethnocentric
assumption is that we can
translate literally from one
language to another, which
leads to both humorous and
serious mistakes.
What do they mean?
• In a Bangkok dry cleaner's:
• Drop your trousers here for
best results.
• In a Norwegian cocktail lounge:
• Ladies are requested not to
have children in the bar.
Dr. No
We don’t want a doctor
Titanic
Ship Outta Luck!
• In Mexico it was translated as “The Rebel
Novice Nun”
• The Sound of Music
• In the Czech Republic it was translated as
“Santa Is A Pervert”
• Bad Santa
• In China it was translated as “One Night,
Big Belly”
• Knocked Up
• In Venezuela it was translated as “Vaselina”
• Grease
Advertising translations:
• In China, Pepsi’s slogan “come alive with
Pepsi” became
• “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the
dead”.
• In Latin America Chevrolet’s new car the
“Nova”
• Translated into Spanish as “No Va” (doesn’t
go)
• And my favorite, the Swedish maker of the
vacuum Electrolux came up with the American
slogan…
“Nothing sucks like
Electrolux!”
At first we will be dependent
upon translators – sometimes a
risky business
Sometimes, even when we are
trying, pronunciation leads to
problems!
In a new culture everything is
harder
Our own culture, or sub-culture, comes to us as
naturally and unconsciously as our handedness.
We generally don’t think about what hand we
will use to write our names.
Changing our cultural point of view is about as
hard as changing our handedness. Both are
possible, but neither is easy.
Handwriting exercise
The Cultural Iceberg
Conscious
behaviors
1/8th above
the surface
Unconscious
beliefs and
values
7/8ths below
the surface
Advice often mistakenly given to
American Outbound students
(from an ethnocentric point of
view):
Just be yourself!
Consider the new culture to
be an iceberg
You are the Titanic!!!
(Ship Outta Luck!)
“Culture Shock takes me
outside my comfort zone.”
Exchange student journal, 2 months
Personal Examples
• Holding hands
• Crossing the street
• Tripping on uneven floor
surfaces
Culture Shock
The profound sense of
disorientation and discomfort that
comes with extended travel or
living in a foreign culture markedly
different from one’s own.
Stages of Culture Shock:
•
•
•
•
Initial enthusiasm and excitement
Irritability and negativism
Gradual adjustment and adaptation
Integration and bi-culturalism
Culture Shock.doc
The Middle Wave of
Culture Shock.doc
Rotary Youth Exchange
Typical Culture Shock Cycle
Months
Pre-Departure
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Normal
Level of
Feelings
Adapted from a model by Robert Kohls
Return …...
4
3
1
2
Stages of Culture Shock:
•
•
•
•
Initial enthusiasm and excitement
Irritability and negativism
Gradual adjustment and adaptation
Integration and bi-culturalism
Examples of Initial Enthusiasm and Excitement
•
•
•
•
•
Trying any food (once!)?
Saying “yes” to almost any suggested activity
Wanting to go and see as many places as possible
Finding many similarities with things back home
Politely and pleasantly smiling and saying “yes”
whether you understand or not
• Taking lots of pictures
• Frequently sharing your new and exciting
experiences back home
Stages of Culture Shock:
•
•
•
•
Initial enthusiasm and excitement
Irritability and negativism
Gradual adjustment and adaptation
Integration and bi-culturalism
Examples of Irritability and Negativism
• Why don’t they ever hug or touch one another?
• Why do they always hug and touch one another?
• Why don’t they make their street signs easier to read?
Examples of Irritability and Negativism
•
•
•
•
•
If they mean “no” why don’t they say “no”?
Why don’t they just tell me what something costs?
Why can’t anyone stand in line?
Why do they drive so fast?
Forcing a smile with clenched teeth when you don’t
understand what is going on.
• Complaining about your discomfort to sympathetic
people back home, or other inbounds in country
• Withdrawing
If the easiest response to the
Irritability and negativism stage is
to find comfort with other Inbounds
or electronically with friends and family
at home, the student may get stuck going
back and forth from stage one to two,
back and forth
Stages of Culture Shock:
•
Initial enthusiasm and excitement
•
Irritability and negativism
•
•
Gradual adjustment and adaptation
Integration and bi-culturalism
Rotary Youth Exchange
Typical Culture Shock Cycle
Months
Pre-Departure
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Normal
Level of
Feelings
Adapted from a model by Robert Kohls
Return …...
4
3
1
2
Stages of Culture Shock:
•
•
•
•
Initial enthusiasm and excitement
Irritability and negativism
Gradual adjustment and adaptation
Integration and bi-culturalism
Examples of Gradual Adjustment
and Adaptation
• Learning the language.
• Finding yourself dreaming in the host language.
• Finding yourself unable to precisely explain a concept
you have learned to someone back home using English.
• Insisting people speak to you in the host language
rather than English
• Going to host parents and local Rotarians with problems
rather than people back home.
• Speaking with other Inbounds in the host language
rather than English
• Becoming involved in school or community activities
Enculturation:
The successful adoption of the
behavior patterns and customs
of the surrounding culture.
(also called acculturation,
immersion, assimilation,
adaptation)
Stages of Culture Shock:
•
•
•
•
Initial enthusiasm and excitement
Irritability and negativism
Gradual adjustment and adaptation
Integration and bi-culturalism
Examples of Integration and
Bi-Culturalism
• Not having to translate in your head first.
• Traveling across town by bus, making a purchase, meeting
friends in the host language and no one asks “where are you
from”?
• Engaging in host culture practices without thinking:
- Eating with fingers, or a knife and fork or chop sticks
- Standing close, or distant, in line with host customs and
feeling comfortable.
• Accepting and appreciating fundamentally different cultural
values as just that – different not right or wrong.
• Telling people back home – I’m not ready – you can’t make
me come back!
Rotary Youth Exchange
Culture Shock Cycle
Months
Pre-Departure
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Normal
Level of
Feelings
Adapted from a model by Robert Kohls
Return …...
Most people anticipate
some degree of culture
shock. Very few people
believe they will experience
reverse culture shock.
Reverse Culture Shock
(Re-entry Shock)
The often unexpected and difficult period of
disorientation and readjustment experienced
after returning to one’s own culture after an
extended period of living abroad.
So You Think You're Home Now.doc
Going Home.doc
The Stages of Reverse Culture Shock
are almost the same as those of
Culture Shock
• Initial Euphoria (may be very brief or not
happen at all)
• Irritability and Negativism ( may be very
lengthy)
• Gradual Adaptation
• True Bi-Culturalism
The Wizard of Oz revisited
Culture Shock and Reverse
Culture Shock are not just
unpleasant side effects of
international living.
They are the necessary
ingredients that bring about
quality intercultural education.
This is my prayer, oh God of all the nations
A prayer of peace for lands afar and mine
This is my home, the country where my heart lies,
Here lie my hopes my dreams like stars that shine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine
But other skies have sunlight too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
Oh hear my prayer oh God of all the nations
A prayer of peace for their land and for mine
Dennis White, Ph.D.
207 S. 4th Ave.
Sturgeon Bay, WI. 54235
Telephone 920-746-1346
Fax 920-746-1347
Email dkwhite@itol.com
For more information,
visit www.yeoresources.org