Culture Shock

Culture Shock
Do you think studying in a different country is something that sounds very exciting？Are you like many young people who learn home to study in another country thinking you will have lots of fun? Certainly, it is a new experience, which brings the opportunity to
discover fascinating things and a feeling of freedom. In spite of these advantages, however, there are also some challenges you will encounter. Because your views may clash
with the different beliefs, norms, values and traditions that exist in different countries, yo-
u may have difficulty adjusting to a new culture and to those parts of the culture not fam-
iliar to you. This is called "culture shock". At least four essential stages of adjustment occ-
ur during culture shock.
The first stage is called "honymoon(蜜月）".In this stage, you are excited about living in
a different place, and everything seems to be marvelous(非常好的）. You like everything, and everybody seems to be so since to you. Also, the amusement of like in a new culture seems to have no ending.
Eventually, however, the second stage of culture shock appears. This is "the hostility(
敌意）stage". You begin to notice that not everything is as good as you had originally th-ought it was. You become tired of many things about the new culture. Moreover, people don't treat you like a guest anymore. Everything that seemed to be so wonderful at first is now awful, and everything makes you feel distressed(使苦恼） and tired.
Usually at this point in your adjustment to a new culture, you devise some defense me-
chanisms to help you cope and to protect yourself against the effects of culture shock. o-
ne type of coping mechanism is called "repression". This happens when you pretend that everything is acceptable and that nothing bothers you. Another type of defense mechan-
ism is called "regression". This occurs when you start to act as if you are young than you
actually are, you act like a child. You forget everthing, and sometimes you become careless and irresponsible. The third kind of defense mechanism is called "isolation". You
would rather be home alone, and you don't want to communicate with anybody. With isolation, you try to avoid the effects of culture shock, or at least that's what you think. Is-
olation is one of the worst coping mechanisms you can use because it separates you from
those things that could really help you. The last type of defense mechanism is called "rejection". With this coping mechanism, you think you don't need anybody. You feel you are coping fine alone, so you don't try to ask for help.
The defense mechanisms you utlize(使用）, in the hostility stage are not helpful. If you
only occasionally use one of these coping mechanisms to help yourself survive, that is acc-
ptable. You must be cautious, however. These mechanisms can really hurt you because th-
ey

prevent you from making necessary adjustment to the new culture.
After you deal with your hostile feelings, recognition of the temporary nature of cultu-
re shock begins. Then you come to the third stage called"recovery". In this stage, you start
feeling more positive, and you try to develop comprehension of everything you don't un-
derstand. The whole situation starts to become more favorable; you recover from the sym-
ptoms of the first two stages, and you adjust yourself to the new norms(规范，标准）, valu-
es, and even beliefs and traditions of the new country. You begin to see that even though the distinction of the culture is different from your own, it has elements that you can learn to appreciate.
The last stage of culture shock is called "adjustment". In this stage, you have reached a
point where you actually feel good because you have learned enough to understand the new culture. The things that initially made you feel uncomfortable or strange are now things that you understand. This acquisition of understanding alleviates much of the stress. Now you feel comfortable; you have adjusted to the new culture.
Culture shock is not something you can avoid when living in a foreign country. It does
not seem like a very helpful experience when you are going through its four stages. However, when you have completely adjusted to a new culture you can more fully enjoy it. You learn how to interact with other people, and you learn a considerable amount about life in a culture that is not your own. Furthermore, learning about other culrures and how to adjust to the shock of living in them helps you learn more about yourself.
文化冲击
你认为留是一件听上去非常让人兴奋的事情吗？你会像许多离家去异国学习的年轻人一样感到很有乐趣吗？这当然是人生新的经历，它会给你带来机会，让你去发现许多迷人的东西，获得一种自由感。然而，虽然有种种好处，你也会遇到挑战。因为你的观点可能与存在于不同国家的不同信念、准则、价值观和传统发生冲突，在适应一种新的文化及该文化中不熟悉的哪些部分时，你也许会遇到困难。这就是“文化冲击”。人们在适应文化冲的过程中至少会出现四个主要阶段。
第一阶段叫“蜜月期”。在这一阶段里，你会感觉到生活在一个不同国度里很兴奋，而且每一样东西看起来都妙不可言。你喜欢那里的一切，每个人都好像对你很好。另外，新文化的生活乐趣好像是无穷无尽的。
然而，文化冲击的第二阶段最终还是出现了，这就是“敌意期”。你开始注意到并不是每样东西都如原先认为的那样好。你开始对新文化里的许多东西感到厌倦。此外，人们也不再把你当作客人来对待了。所有最初看上去非常

好的东西现在都变得让人讨厌了，所有的一切都是你感到苦恼和厌倦。
通常，在适应新文化的过程中，当步入这一阶段时，你会想出一些应付难关和保护自己免受文化冲击影响的保护性办法。其中有一种办法叫作“压抑法”。当你假装所有的东西都是可以接受的，没有什么东西令你苦恼时，你就是在用“压抑法”。另一种保护性办法叫作“倒退法”。当你的行为举止开始显得比你实际年龄小的时候，你是在用这种办法。这时，你的行为举止像一个小孩，会把一切都忘掉，有时会变得粗心大意和不负责任。第三种保护性办法叫作“孤立法”。你宁肯一人待在家里，也不愿意和任何人交流。至少你认为要把自己孤立起来，从而避免文化冲击的影响。孤立法是人们用来对付文化冲击最糟糕的一个办法，因为你把那些真正有益的帮助与自己隔离开来。最后一种保护性办法叫作“排斥法”。这一办法让你觉得自己不需要任何人的帮助。你觉得独自一个人就可以把事情做好。所以就不想求助于任何人。
在敌意阶段中，你使用的这些办法并不能解决问题。如果仅仅是偶尔使用其中一个应付办法来帮助自己生存下来，倒也无妨。但是必须谨慎，这些办法会真正让你受到伤害，因为它们会阻碍你对新文化所作出的必要调整。
处理了自己的敌对情绪后，你会开始认识到文化冲击的短暂性。让后你就会步入被称为“恢复期“的
第三个阶段。在这个阶段里，你开始变得积极起来，而且会努力去理解所有自己不明白的东西。整个形势开始变得对你有利了，你会从前面两个阶段出现的症状中恢复过来，使自己适应新的准则、 新的价值观念，乃至这个陌生国家的各种信念和传统。你开始明白， 虽然这种文化的特点和自己的文化特点有所不同，其中也必定有值得学习和欣赏的东西。
文化冲击的最后一个阶段被称为”适应期“。在这个阶段，你达到了真正感觉良好的境界，因为已经学到了很多东西，已经能理解新的文化。最出蛋刀不舒服或陌生的东西， 现在已成为了你能理解的东西了。这种理解会为你减轻许多压力。现在你感到舒服，并已经适应了新的文化。
文化冲击是一种生活在异国他乡的人们无法避免的现象。当你在经历文化冲击的四个阶段，它似乎并不是一件有益的事情。然而，当完全适应了某一种新的文化时，你会更加充分地享受这种文化。你学会了如何与他人交流，而且还了解了许多与自己拥有不同文化背景的人们的生活情况。此外，了解其他文化以及当你生活在其中时应如何适应所受到的冲击，可以帮助你更多的了解

自己。