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Running head: CULTURE SHOCK INTERVIEW 1

CULTURE SHOCK INTERVIEW

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CULTURE SHOCK INTERVIEW 2

Culture shock

Culture shock is a relatively short-term natural state of physical and psychological disorientation

of discomfort due to living, working and studying in a new culture and unfamiliar with the cues

in the environment. Culture shock progresses slowly, and it does not hit suddenly (Ward,

Bochner and Furnham, 2005). But not every person moving to a new environment will

experience culture shock. Some of them may experiences culture shock symptoms such as

homesickness, stereotypical of the host country, boredom and family conflict. To some degree,

culture shock is inevitable, and its reactions are emotional and cannot be easily managed.

Correspondingly, along with the growing worldwide immigration from one country to another,

culture shock within people has become a key feature in the current world. This paper is

comprised of the interview question and the response as well as my experience on the interview.

Interview with Susan

For my improvement in my anthropology class and have a deeper understanding of

culture shock, I interviewed an acquaintance of mine by the name Susan. We sat down together

in one of the tables in order to discuss whether she has experienced culture shock and what are

some of the experiences she came across when she first arrived in America.

Interview questions and response

Have you ever experienced culture shock? If yes, how would you describe it?

Yes, I have experienced culture shock. Just imagine how hard it is growing up in two

different countries, and both are your home. Every time I come to the United States, and every

time I go back to Norway there are several differences. My first difference is when I was born.

CULTURE SHOCK INTERVIEW 3

My mother is a Norwegian citizen by birth, and she was raised in Norway, and when she came to

the United States, she met my father. Since my mother is a Norwegian citizen, she could go

back and to Norway and give birth with zero costs; whereas in the united stated giving birth costs

between $2,500 and $3,500 after the insurance cover of giving birth naturally. Healthcare is

funded publicly in Norway, and it is completely free until the age of sixteen, in which a payment

is made before you get your exemption card. Here in the United States, healthcare is something

hard to receive for me. Being sick in the United States is expensive.

What are the cultural differences here in the United States that you find most difficult to

adjust?

The first thing Susan talked about was being an adult. It is only until you graduate in the

tenth grade and you are eighteen years that you will be an adult in most American culture.

Whereas, you are considered an adult at the age of sixteen at which point you also graduate in

the tenth grade in Norwegian culture. It was difficult for me to adjust to being a kid again when I

came to visit summer at my seventieth birthday, after being on my own for a while. Generally,

there are differences on how parents here in the United States and Norway raise their children. It

was really difficult for me to grow up and to get used to the different approaches taken on

parenting. We pride ourselves on being tough in Norway, and there are a lot of things we have to

learn and experience ourselves. We are overprotected and sensitive here in the United States. I

am not against being loved, but sometimes it is too much when compared to how I am treated in

Norway.

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How do people criticize you as a person since here in the United States there's this idea of

individualism?

I always find it quite strange when coming to America and having people criticize me for

who I am as a person and how they look at me closely. In America, people do not believe in

janteloven, and it is very hard for them to accept. When moving from one country to another,

there is always a period of adjustment, which is really confusing because you are not used to the

differences (Furnham and Bochner, 1986). When I was young, it was worse because I did not

understand why things were different to me. In Norway cannot question you or judge on your

gender but here in the United States, it is difficult to be your own.

What have you been surprised most by the food, tome and routine here in America?

In Norway, we go by the military time which is different from the United States, and I

found it confusing for communication purposes. For the food, here in the United States, there is a

heavy fast-food culture whereas in Norway there is not food culture, but we eat a lot of fish,

dairy, and bread. In Norway, fast food is not popular, and there is no much dependency on it.

Discussion and class concept

During the interview with Susan, she seemed to be a good listener, and whenever I ask

any question, she could first smile before responding to my question. This was a good indication

that Susan was more than willing for the interview and responded in a respectful manner (Oberg,

1960). I never got worried about getting ready to be judged by Susan because I approached her

politely and asked if I could interview her.

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It is important to study culture because it makes us who we are today. It is interesting to

see how being raised in two different countries with different culture has shaped Susan’s

behavior to who she is today. Nevertheless, from the interview, I have learned that culture shock

never goes away, it will always be hard when it comes to adjusting to different cultures when

moving from one place to another.

Conclusion

In conclusion, based on the culture shock interview, I had a better understanding of

different symptoms of a culture shock for being raised to two different cultures. I have also

acquired a deep understanding of the potential culture shock relationships among different

countries with a different culture.

CULTURE SHOCK INTERVIEW 6

References

Furnham, A., & Bochner, S. (1986). Culture shock. Psychological reactions to unfamiliar

environments. Culture shock. Psychological reactions to unfamiliar environments.

Ward, C., Bochner, S., & Furnham, A. (2005). The psychology of culture shock. Routledge.

Oberg, K. (1960). Cultural shock: Adjustment to new cultural environments. Practical

anthropology, 7(4), 177-182.

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