Culture shock - then and now (Part 1)

The Australian Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) in carrying out its research on cross cultural relationships will produce a series of articles examining people who had undergone cultural shock 30 years ago compared with today. It is hope that this research will help people from different cultural background who have moved to a new country, to adapt better and live a happier life. In this article we will look at Culture Shock - then and now. As we all know, the effect of Culture Shock on people who recently moved to a new country compared to 30 years ago is very different due to modern technology and an almost borderless world. So now sit back and enjoy the first installment of this series.

Culture shock used to be one of the main concern whenever a person migrates or leaves for overseas for a long period of stay. Back in the 1980s before I left for the United States of America for my studies, I was given a pamphlet by the “Malaysian American Commission Educational Exchange” (MACEE) on how to deal with culture shock. This is especially true for people for has never left his or her country of origin, let alone moving to another country. I know a few friends who have never flown in an airplane until that fateful day when they left to further their studies in overseas. I remember the pamphlet talked about the 3 phases that the students would most likely go through. The first phase is the “honeymoon phase” where the student would be excited and fascinated with the new country and culture. Everything is new, therefore the student can’t wait to experience and explore life in this new country. It is like having a holiday in this new country. The second phase is the “negotiation phase” or “awareness phase” where usually after a few months, the student began to feel homesick due to the difference between the student’s culture and the culture of the new country. This could also be due to the familiarity which the student misses (eg: family, loved ones, friends, familiar places), language barrier, availability of food from the country of origin and the system and manner the way things are carried out in the new country. Sometimes, this may lead to the student being frustrated, anxious and angry. This is a crucial stage for the student. As this stage will determine whether the student has the ability to adapt or “throw in the towel” and to return to his/her country of origin. There are people who persevere and they are those who call it quits and willing to forego everything to return to the comfort of his/her home country. The third phase is called the “adjustment phase” or the “acceptance phase” where the student began to adapt and accept the new culture and develop his/her routine. The MACEE pamphlet also states that part of the adjustment is that the student began to realise that he/she is going to spend only a small part of his/her life in the new country and should take the opportunity to experience as much as possible. Keeping in mind that MACEE’s pamphlet was meant for students who would eventually return to their country of origin, therefore there were only 3 phases which were highlighted. However, for people who are migrating to a new country, there is a fourth phase known as the “mastery phase” where the person has adapted very well and has assimilated and able to participate in the new country’s culture. By adapting well to the new culture does not mean that the person has lost his/her identity of his country of origin. The person may still speak with the same accent, practised his/her religion, recognising his/her culture and still enjoying food from his/her native country. However, the person can now experience two different cultures. The person is in a good place called “bicultural” stage.

When I went to the US for my studies back in 1980s, technology was not as advanced as today. Computers, mobile phones and e-mails were very rare. As for Skype, Facetime, Tango and Viber, they were not in existence. I remembered at one time, AT&T (an American telephone company) was promoting their services on campus, especially to the foreign students. They were allowing people to make 1 minute phone call at no charge to anywhere in the world. Foreign students were queueing up, making long lines, just to get that rare opportunity to talk to their loved ones back home for free. As for me, I was fortunate as my brother and I lived in the same apartment and we get to speak to our parents at least once a week. We have to be mindful of the time difference as well. Living in different time zone also contributed to culture shock as well. When I was living in the US, I was yearning for news from back home, anything familiar that I thought would help me to adjust to life in this new country without losing the familiarity. My father would from time to time, cut interesting articles from various Malaysian newspapers and snail mail them to me. I was also in touch and corresponded with few of my classmates back in Klang at that time including a person by the name of Andrew Gerard Nathan whom unfortunately, I have lost in touch as time goes by. Each letter which I mailed to Malaysia, I would be anxiously waiting for a reply. It became such an obsession that I actually calculated that it will take 14 days to get a reply from Malaysia provided that the person reply to my letter almost immediately! My apartment had posters from beautiful holiday places in Malaysia pasted on the walls (courtesy of Tourism Malaysia) and not forgetting a Malaysian flag as well. There wasn’t any web surfing then, so I would frequently flipped through the Malaysia Year Book (there used to be a Year Book for every year) and reminiscing everything about Malaysia. So, as you can see, by not letting go, I am burying myself deep into culture shock.

Luckily for people like us who were in the US, we had a rough idea on how the life in the US was going to be, thanks to the Hollywood movies and TV shows shown in Malaysia at that time. The shows did not reflect the actual life in the US but were close enough. So, in that sense, the culture shock was cushioned slightly. I was in my second phase, “Negotiation Phase” when I realised that I needed to get my degree by hook or by crook. I was very fortunate to be studying at one of US top universities and I was going to make the best of it. Those days, to have a degree was a major thing. There was no such thing as twinning programme or degree mills. The only way to get a degree was to undergo a four year programme. The perseverance and the motivation kept me going and I was able to overcome “the negotiation phase”. The third phase of “adjustment” came quite easily when I made new friends not only with Americans but people from other countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, etc and found that they were all humans and have their own challenges. In other words, they were no different from you or me. The 4 years spent in the US were wonderful and it enriched me in more ways than one. Stay tune for the second part to this series.