Introduction
According to Peter Adler: “Culture shock, then, is thought to be a form of anxiety that results from the loss of commonly perceived and understood signs and symbols of social intercourse. The individual undergoing culture shock reflects his anxiety and nervousness with cultural differences through any number of defense mechanisms: repression, regression, isolation and rejection. These defensive attitudes speak, in behavioral terms, of a basic underlying insecurity which may encompass loneliness, anger, frustration and self-questioning of competence. With the familiar props, cues, and clues of cultural understanding removed, the individual becomes disoriented, afraid of, and alienated from the things that he knows and understands.”
Culture shock happens when the person is moving to a new country it can be thrilling for that person even bracing experience. If someone is new in any environment, the person feel more alive to seeing new sights, eating new food, hearing the new sounds of foreign languages and the different climate which is against from his own country as he never seen before. However, this sensory offensive becomes sensory overload. Suddenly, some new experiences seem to be stressful rather than interesting and enjoyment turns into discomfort. This is the fact known as culture shock. Culture shock is more boring than jet lag or homesickness and it affects that people who enters a new culture like tourist, business travelers, diplomats and students. There are three causes of culture shock. Language, food, and currency.
First cause is language in the culture shock because the language is more important for every person who wants to visit a new country or a student. If you do not speak and understand of their language their particular country then you can find so many difficulties. For example, I have traveled to Europe and Saudi Arab. During this trip, I face a lot of difficulties like when I was meeting with the Saudi Arab people I didn’t understand their language. Even though I talk to them in English that where the restaurant is. He didn’t understand the English language then I find one Pakistan man he knows Arabic. Then I asked from him he tells me that Pakistani restaurant is near to this street. The solution for the language is that you should know about that country then you can survive better. Language helps to make friendships. If you are living in new country without knowing there language can be lonely without someone to talk to. Nelson Mandela said that “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.”
The second cause is food. It is a different challenge for who went to new country because every county nation has specific food. The real issue happens especially when you eat local dishes that are new to you. Some cultures take an insult when the person refuses their food but you need to balance that concern with your well-being. Some times when you are eating the food is not a big problem but the main problem is the flavors in the food. For instance, if we see the food of Asian society they are more eating the spices and if we look at to the western society they are less in spices. Once I was in India I walked about 2 miles in Mumbai to eat at a specific restaurant but the smell of that spice filled the air. I felt bad about it, but I told the host I couldn’t eat there. In the end, he was glad I told him because he didn’t want me to hate the experience. I have two advises for minimizing culture shock related to food. The first advice is doing not be afraid to eat at familiar places. For instance, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, and other familiar fast food spots are everywhere. Because they will have some different food items on their menu card but will also have familiar items. The great news is that they taste pretty much the same abroad as they do back home. My second advice is to
