Culture Shock

Understanding what culture shock is and how it comes about will help you identify it more easily and make your international move a little easier.

The online Oxford Dictionary     1    (define) culture shock as disorientation experienced when someone is suddenly in an unfamiliar culture or way of life. This is a good summary. Let’s break it down a bit further.     2    you move to a new country, everything is unfamiliar: weather, landscape, language, food, dress, social roles, values, customs, and communication—basically, everything you’ re used to is no longer in place.

You’ll find that the day unfolds differently,     3    business is conducted in a way that may be hard to understand, and that the stores are opened and closed at hours you could never predict. The smells, sounds, and tastes are unusual, and you can’t communicate with the locals—not even     4     (buy) a loaf of bread. This is a culture shock, and like any form of shock, there is a definite and almost certain reaction.

How to Help Yourself

There are several things you can do to help yourself     5    the stages of culture shock. First, fight the urge to retreat(=leave)and instead join a club, try out for a sports team, volunteer, or take a language class. Meeting new people and forcing yourself     6    (become) part of the community will help you through the re-integration stage.

Also, it’s important when you’ re settling into your new home country to ensure your home space     7    (feel) good and comfortable.     8    (settle) into a new home is the same in a foreign country     9    it is in your own country. Take the time you need to feel good in your space.

Get out. Walk around your new neighborhood. Be seen. Smile. Visit the same coffee shop or bookstore or market. You’ll soon be recognized.

Go on tours. Be a tourist in your new town. Get to know your city,     10    history and culture. This will help ease you into the independence stage.

2 . What is culture shock? It is a phenomenon that all types of outside experience, no matter if people work abroad for the first time or they are new in the field of foreign assignments. Often, it is the deeper cultural differences in mindset, customs and interpersonal interaction that lead to this phenomenon(现象)and turn cultural transition into a struggle.

◇An Emotional Roller-coaster(过山车)

Whereas every expatriate(侨民, 旅居国外者)will experience some form of culture shock, not everyone goes through all the well—known stages. Culture shock is a sense of anxiety and nervousness caused by being exposed to a strange environment and culture. However, it’s an essential part of the transition process: A willingness to work through it is the first step towards integration(融合).

Those who refuse to face it often fail to overcome it. This may result in great disillusionment. For some, the only logical solution is then going back home before the end of their assignment. Such expatriate failures occur particularly often in cases where the cultures of home and host country differ greatly.

The first step towards fighting this unavoidable phenomenon is to ask yourself “What is culture shock?” and try to understand it. Most experts describe it as a roller-coaster riding process where they experience waves of positive and negative feelings.

◇Minimizing the Effects

Culture shock is not a myth, but a predictable phenomenon. Anybody who spends more than just a vacation abroad has to go through it. Those who receive the least support on a professional and personal basis are usually hit the hardest. Expatriate spouses(配偶)in particular often feel lonely and angry when they experience life in a new cultural environment. If expatriates learn about the culture and people in their host countries in advance, they will be less shocked by obvious differences in social customs, religion, language or food.

Culture Shock is a term used to describe the anxiety produced when a person moves to a _______ new environment. This term expresses the loss of direction, the feeling of not knowing what to do or how to do things in a new environment.

Shock Guide — Coping with Culture Shock

Most people who set foot on a foreign soil and live there have the ability to _______ the difficulties of a new environment and overcome culture shock. So if you are thinking about going home or only spending time with people from your own culture, don’t. You have to realize that you are not _______ . Many other foreigners have experienced _______ you feel, talk to your friends at your school as they can help you feel better.

Some Tips for Dealing with the Stress Produced by Culture Shock:

—Be aware of the symptoms (症状). Once you realize you are _______ culture shock, you can then take steps to deal with it.

—What are the situations which _______ or irritate you most in the new country?

*Are you misunderstanding the host people’s treatment of you? Where can you find more _______ about this aspect of the culture? Behavior which seems _______ to you, may not be intended as rude. Polite customs are _______ for each culture.

When situations seem senseless, remember that the hosts may be following social rules unknown to you. Ask questions about ________ customs.

*If you are still bothered by a situation, find ways to minimize the irritation. Is the situation ________ ? If not, you may be able to avoid or minimize involvement. For example: If women’s swimwear offends (冒犯) you, then spend shorter periods of time at the ________ .

—What do you ________ the most which was enjoyable in your home country? Look for ways to meet these desires or ________ these with something new. For example, if you miss your favourite Japanese pickles (腌制食品), go to a Japanese ________ or ask a relative to mail some to you.

Make the Best of Dog Days with Chinese Sanfu Customs

The hottest and most sultry (闷热的) days of the year, dog days, or Sanfu in Chinese, came on Thursday.     1     Chinese, “san” means “three” and “fu” means to “hide“. The word refers to three periods of “fu” days,     2     usually fall between mid-and-late July and early August.

In the philosophy of traditional Chinese medical science, it is the best time for driving away the summer-heat evil, or dampness,     3     the body. To resist the evil, people are advised to hide from heat during dog days.

Since ancient times, Chinese people     4     (develop)some traditional customs to prevent heatstroke (中暑) and adjust their bodies to be better accustomed     5     the changing seasons, including eating the right food and using the medicine.

In the philosophy of traditional Chinese medical science, the human body is full of positive energy on hot days, and skin is open to the outside world.     6     you paste some medicated patches, “Sanfutie” in Chinese, to some acupuncture points (穴位) on the body, it will work better along the main and collateral channels (经络) and blood vessels. Leave the patches on the body for several hours before taking away, and repeat the procedure several times according to different diseases during the dog days.     7     the disease has been treated in summer, the probability of the disease to break out will decrease in autumn and winter.

As the old method can help a patient ease pain     8     taking drugs and having acupuncture(针灸)or an operation, it has gained much popularity since ancient times. If you visit a traditional Chinese medicine hospital on the first day of “Sanfu”, you will find long queues waiting for getting “Sanfutie” treatment, which might not be     9     (suit) for everybody.     10     (consult) a professional doctor before using it.

A Nigerian artist who    1    his own work to the British Museum with the hopes of receiving looted (被掠夺的) colonial art back from it has had his offer declined.

The British Museum accepted a bronze plaque made by an artist Osarobo Zeickner-Okoro, from Benin City in Nigeria, who entered into    2    for the museum to return priceless Benin Bronzes that were looted by British troops in 1897. He offered his creation to encourage the museum to give back the sculptures but also to    3    acknowledgement of Benin City’s modern-day culture. The museum told him the    4    for looted artworks was impossible. Its official website acknowledges that it houses over 900 items from the city of Benin, but does not acknowledge how they were    5    . After meeting with two curators (策展人) from the museum’s Africa department, Zeickner-Okoro explained he was delighted they had accepted his gift, even though they rejected the idea of an exchange.

Created from brass and bronze in the once mighty Kingdom of Benin from at least the 16th century onwards, the Benin Bronzes are among Africa’s most    6    significant artefacts. European museums that    7    them have faced years of criticism because of their status as loot and symbols of colonial greed. The British Museum has made no clear commitment despite demands from the Oba, or king, of Benin.

A    8    member of Ahiamwen, a new guild of Benin City bronze casters and artists, Zeickner—Okoro wanted to change the terms of the debate by offering the museum    9    artworks untainted by any history of looting.

“Part of the crime that’s been committed is that Benin has been portrayed as a dead civilisation,” he said. “The reparation is not just returning the Bronzes. It’s also acknowledging us, that we’re a    10    civilisation.”

Mooncake Bakers Break the Mold This Year

Mooncakes, the seasonal treat    1    by families and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival, have become a focus of competition among pastry makers with the traditional holiday for family reunions less than a month away.

Longtime mooncake makers and newcomers are coming up    2    new tricks with new ingredients and fancy designs to lure customers. The holiday, on Oct. 1 this time around, is special this year, many think,     3    the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many mooncake advertisements that started to appear in August in supermarkets, convenience stores and online social media have highlighted new flavours, special ingredients, and exquisite packaging.

Traditional fillings such as lotus seed paste with egg yolk for popular Cantonese-style mooncakes and other common fillings    4    sweet bean paste, jujube paste and the "five kernels"（a mix of walnuts, peanuts, sesame seeds,   almonds and sunflower seeds）are not the only game in town.

This year, Xinya Cantonese Restaurant, which is popular in Shanghai for its seasonal pastries, is promoting mooncakes with mustard tuna fish floss filling and green Sichuan pepper basa fish paste.

Plant-based meat substitutes,     5    by extracting protein from plants such as soybeans and other beans, are also being used by mooncake makers. Kam Wah Gift, a bakery company, has joined in a partnership with plant—based "meat" producer Starfield to design two mooncakes—rose black truffle and matsutake mushroom with artificial meat.

Pagoda, a retail fruit chain with 4,000 outlets in China, has also joined the race with its first mooncake products featuring healthy    6    . The company claims its mooncakes have zero artificial fragrances and dyes, and use antioxidant starch to    7    preservatives.

Taste Back, a snack food startup in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, has been promoting a large mooncake inspired    8    the traditional big, thin pancake popular in Fujian Province. Ding Mao, the company's chief operating officer, said the idea is to build on the local thin pancake.

Designs are another major field of competition as mooncakes are traditionally    9    as gifts. Xinghualou, a traditional Shanghai pastry maker, joined with the Palace Museum to launch mooncakes with limited-edition cases featuring an image of a long scroll painting of the Qing Dynasty（1644-1911）.

Haagen—Dazs, which entered the market with its ice—cream mooncake 22 years ago, worked with the Spanish museum Casa Batllo to use modernist designs from mosaics by architect Antoni Gaudi on the boxes for its mooncake sets.

“Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, people didn't have a proper Spring Festival this year, and we want to convey the ideas of love and connection    10    our mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival,” said James Chiu, vice-president and managing director of General Mills China. General Mills is parent company of Haagen-Dazs.

7 . “When I first started learning calligraphy, I just copied the teacher’s strokes (笔画), and my work was ugly.” said Aryan from Afghanistan. He is currently a graduate student in Beijing, ________ in International Education of the Chinese language.

During his six-year stay in China, he discovered the ________ of Chinese culture. He also realized that Chinese is steadily becoming a(n) ________ language, and more people around the world want to communicate smoothly with Chinese.

To his surprise, the curriculum for foreign students in China ________ the classroom. The school organizes extracurricular ________ to help them learn and experience ________ and culture. After closer and deeper ________ with Chinese culture, Aryan found his hobby: calligraphy.

“Initially, I didn’t know much Chinese and thought calligraphy would be difficult,” Aryan said.” Later on, I found out that calligraphy can help me ________ my Chinese language skills and my understanding of Chinese culture.

He used to ________ the idea that writing Chinese characters was all about writing them neatly. But he later found out that this view is ________.Calligraphy helps him to understand both each stroke and the Chinese ________ toward life. The horizontal, vertical (垂直的) and left and right falling stokes on the paper ________ Chinese people’s unique symbols and memories. They are also the hidden ________ to better understanding Chinese culture.

Not only did Aryan gain a deeper ________ of Chinese characters, but also developed a more mature personality along the way. Calligraphy gives him strength when he feels ________ and lost, finding his inner peace.