Driving down the empty highway late at night, with the headlights illuminating the road, Emir noticed something lying on the ground. He felt a moment of concern but dismissed it until, a few miles later, he saw it again. This time, he stopped the car and looked out the window. What he saw shocked him — the lifeless body of a deer lay on the side of the road.
– When you’re driving on highways between cities, towns, or on big roads I see a lot of dead animals, like deer, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, which does not usually happen in my country. It is very rare to see killed animals on the road and it can be a maximum of a squirrel or a dog.
Whereas for Kamila her cultural shock was a lack of tradition of taking off shoes before coming into the house. She is an international student from Uzbekistan, where it is an essential part of etiquette.
– In my family we always take our shoes off when we enter home. When I came here, I saw my roommate did not take off his shoes. Later, we agreed with her to clean the floor in our room every week and take off the shoes. This was really unusual for me.
While some people might assume that keeping shoes inside the house is a crazy thing, foreign people face completely different cultural shocks. Emir was dismayed that it is not required to have special permission to buy weapons.
– I didn’t know that people can get guns legally. In my country it is illegal to buy it without special permission. For example, to get guns you need to be in the military, or you need to get a special license for hunting. I was surprised that any citizen over some age can legally buy a gun. I used to think that they got this from illegal black markets. I was just shocked that any person can just go to a gun store and buy it.
When international students shared their experiences of cultural shock, the most common response among the participants was the friendliness and politeness of Americans—a trait that may not be as obvious to Americans themselves. While Americans often smile and greet strangers, people from other cultures might perceive this gesture as odd or unusual. Emir shared a story from his own experience.
– When I came here for the first time I went to Starbucks. The lady there was very happy and when she found out that it was my first time in the USA, she placed the order for free, and she gave me a Starbucks water bottle for free as a gift. I was really surprised by this, and we were shocked by this kindness. When you’re hiking people just say “hello” and “how you’re doing”. In Kyrgyzstan if you say hello to a random person, they would be suspicious about you.
Experiencing culture shock is a common part of adjusting to a new culture. Emir and Kamila are people who have gone through this and gained new experiences that helped them adapt to life in the new country.
