Culture Shock & Traveling

When my father sent me off to school in Hong Kong at the age of 7 years old in 1996, I did not aware of the cultural problem we all know today as culture shock. The term "culture shock" was coined by Kalvero Oberg only a few years earlier then in 1954 and was hardly known by any common people at that time. It is a psychological experience of adults during the time of cultural adjustment that accompanies a period of cultural socialization or acculturation (which is different from the enculturation process experienced by small children).

The first shock
I went into a primary 4 class room one morning and prepared to learn my new lesson of Chinese calligraphy. I took out my usual writing gears I used back home in Thailand. It was an ink-pad and the writing brush. I poured some water on the pad and started to rub on it to get some black ink to write. Suddenly, the whole class room of thirty over students started to stare and laugh at me. I did not know what was going on. But I was so embarrassed I just wanted to duck my head under to escape all eyes that were piecing at me. I learned later that they do not use the kind of ink-pad for Chinese writing anymore in Hong Kong. They use a modern tiny ink box and pour in the black ink when you want to write. They thought I came from the former Chinese Dynastic of Qing.

Second shock
One Sunday morning and it was a holiday for everyone in Hong Kong, I went out window shopping with a friend at the famous shopping center of Nathan Road. We were good friends and it would be naturally for us to hold hands or hugging each other with arms on the shoulders while walking. Suddenly, a man walked by and told us that it was illegal in Hong Kong for boys to hold hands in public. It was quite a shock to us. How could that be? We would do that to our good friend back at home in Thailand. I learned later that the behavior might be considered as breaking the Homosexual law in Hong Kong which was ruled by Britain at that time. I was 14 years old then.

Continuing shock
One year later at the age 15, my father sent me to further my studies in Australia. We were still flying propeller planes and allowed to smoke in the cabins. That was a universal culture and nobody seemed to be annoyed at the smokes that get into your eyes. I was enjoying my meal flying from Singapore to Sydney. I did what I usually do with ice in my mouth, i.e. I simply chewed it. Suddenly, the whole plane turned and stared at me with blaming eyes. I did not know what I did wrong. But I felt so confused at the situation. I learned after that it is extreme impolite to chew ice with a loud noise in public for the western culture.

The next shock
I was dining on a table with my shared room mate and my landlady; Suddenly my landlady took out a piece of tissue and started to blow her nose. I do not know how I could continuing sitting on the table and had my meal. This is something we do not do on the table. To me, that was a horrible shock.

Some shocks are indeed quite a shock. Have you heard of a culture in New Zealand where tribe members rub noses with each other in their greetings? How about a custom in one of the African tribes where people spit on the floor to greet each other? There is also a small hill tribe in the remote part of northern Thailand where bride is to offer her virginity to the clan head for good luck before she can reunion with the groom. We also do nails clipping in any public place. And that is considered to be alright.

I can write a whole book on my experience in the subject. Some may not have the problem as such. Some may not travel. Some may travel extensively and simply are shock proof. But for those who travel occasionally and especially to a far away land, be prepare for the culture shock. And I say "Be prepared."