Culture Stock

Culture Shock

Michelle Bronson

SOC 120

April 16, 2010

If you were to visit a place such as Yanomamo, you are going to feel a culture shock. You would need to prepare for this type of situation in weeks before you go. You would need t do research about the culture there, the way they live, eat, and sleep, just so you do not offend what they believe in there. Just because you may not live your life in that manner, it may be VERY important for them. You would need to realize that things there are completely different than what your culture may be. For example, the way the woman are treated there and how they believe in the things they do, you may not think it would be okay to allow this type of treatment, but in their culture it is truly acceptable. Of course you would need to know the basic structure of their religion before you visit so you are not caught off guard by the things they allow or do not allow in their lives.

If I had to think of a culture shock that I have had in my life, it would be when I was close to sixteen years ago and I was dating a Philippine guy and I went to his house for dinner one night and saw the way the house was scented differently and there was rice to eat, and not very much else. At that time I was VERY closed mind and did not understand or want to know what else they to eat with the rice or why the room smelled a certain way. However, now I understand that all people are different and celebrate certain ways of their culture a different way and should not have offended them in whatever way I might have.