IN THIS ISSUE

SPECIAL COLUMN: Culture Shock..!!??!

This article is especially dedicated to the International students and students away from home

Have you ever felt lost  or alienated? Have these thoughts ever crossed your mind?..What in the world is that? What are they doing? What are they saying?   What is happening?    What race is he/she?     What should I do?   How do I do it ?  How should I say?           Where do I  go? What, where, why, when, how???!!!…And a barrage of questions and queries flooding through your mind.

Have you ever felt frustrated, tired, confused and disoriented? Do you feel that you are now in limbo? Neither here nor back there at home in your own country, town or even kampung…...

Then, you may be experiencing CULTURE SHOCK. This happens so often to those who have entered into an entirely new environment, be it a new work place, school, college, university, home or country.

The term CULTURE SHOCK was first coined by Karl Oberg in 1954. This term was further elaborated by Furnham and Buchner who described CULTURE SHOCK as:

…when a sojourner is unfamiliar with the social conventions of the new culture, or if familiar with them, unable or unwilling to perform according to these rules.

CULTURE SHOCK involves a powerful disruption of a person’s routines, ego and self-image which can be devastating.

Here are some signs and symptoms of those that are suffering from CULTURE SHOCK.

Symptoms of CULTURE SHOCK:

• Unwarranted criticism of the culture or people
• Developing stereotypes about the new culture
• Utopian ideas concerning one’s own previous culture
• Identifying with the old culture or idealizing the old country
• Constant complains about the climate
• Continuous concern regarding the purity of water and food
• Developing obsessions such as over-cleanliness
• Preoccupation with health
• Aches, pains and allergies
• Fear of touching the local people
• Insomnia, desire to sleep too much or too little
• Anger, irritability, resentment, unwillingness to interact with others
• Loss of identity
• Lack of confidence
• Unable to solve simple problems
• Refusal to learn the new language
• Trying too hard to absorb everything in the new culture or country
• Sadness, loneliness, melancholy
• Changes in temperament, depression, feeling vulnerable, feeling powerless
• Feeling of inadequacy or insecurity
• Preoccupation of being robbed or cheated
• Pressing desire to talk with people who “really make sense”
• Preoccupation with returning home
• Longing for family

If you have some of these symptoms, what do you do then?? How do you cope with CULTURE SHOCK???……....(To be continued)

References:

1. Amigos – Culture Shock

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/CGuanipa/cultshok.htm                                   ( 16.4. 2008)

2. Understanding Culture Shock

www.faoa.org/journal/cshckfao.html                                                                  ( 16.4.2008)

3. Culture Shock

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CultureShock                                                               ( 16.4.2008)

4. Culture Shock

www.cba.uni.edu/buscomm/InternationalBusComm/cultureshock.htm        ( 16.4.2008)  

Note from the Editor-in-Chief

Book Launch: Changing the Mind-Set

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Education Township in Bandar Springhill, Negeri Sembilan

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Chinese New Year Extravaganza

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     Special Column:    Culture Shock

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