One of the best aspects of humanity are the variances between individuals, the fact that people are as unique as snowflakes. However, occasionally one must go beyond their home to truly recognize this difference. When venturing beyond your norm, remaining aware of the possibility of culture shock is pivotal to keeping a clear head and not allowing the differences to ruin the experience. According to World Wide Classroom, culture shock is, “anxiety that results from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse.” The culture shock phenomenon is not the carnival game where you wield a mallet to a weight sensor sending a metal block surging towards the bell; instances of culture shock can be felt even before the bell is rung. Some of the triggers that result in this feeling of anxiety are misunderstandings that occur when attempting every day actions in a new environment like using public transit or interacting with those around you.
Due to these seemingly simplistic triggers, culture shock is applicable anywhere because each community has veins of their own culture. Coming from a town where the public transportation is limited to cars, trucks, four-wheelers, and the occasional tractor, the idea of mass transit has been a bit daunting. Even though this type of transportation is used all around the world, there are certain intricacies that can only be learned through a bit of trial and error, like when you’re trying to get to the Barnes station, but step off the train into a different zone, multiple stations past the one you intended… (not that that has ever happened to me before *cough cough*).
When focusing on the intricacies of dialect, you can still be separated by a common language due to preferences in slang terminology. For example, the majority of residents from the United States use the word “sketchy” as a synonym for questionable or bad; whereas, across the pond many individuals have no frame of reference for the term, and use “dodgy” instead. Social interaction can mostly be divided into either cold culture or warm culture. The distinction between the two comes from a majority instinct of punctuality, personal space, and directness of speech. Many European countries are considered cold cultured. Alabama…not so much. This preference can be interpreted in many different ways, but I have noticed that, most importantly, individuals who fall within the cold culture stigma just want a reason for why someone is intruding upon their space. Their preferred privacy doesn’t in any way make them colder than the society who fosters individuals with an instinct to make small talk with the stranger standing behind them in line; rather, this directness creates more sincerity within interpersonal connections.
Both of these triggers for culture shock are not events that require a long travel to experience. While I identified the contrasts between Alabama and London, an individual could experience culture shock in the face of these societal differences within the same country or even life stages, because as you grow and change you enter different cultures: middle school, high school, college, post graduate life. Personally, whenever I begin to feel overwhelmed while in a different culture the words, “If it was easy, everyone would do it” reverberate throughout my memories. Culture shock is not a reason to fear going someplace new. Culture shock is the congratulatory pat on your back for going beyond the norm and jumping feet first into a new society.
