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Essay On Culture Shock

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Introduction
Culture Shock refers to the unavoidable situation of being affected by the transitioning from a familiar culture to an unfamiliar one, experienced by people who work, live, or study abroad (Sheih, 2014). Every year students plan to study abroad and although they may read up about what they should prepare for and even try as they may to be prepared, it is inevitable that at some point they will experience culture shock as every student has before them. This is most particular to students who study abroad for the first time but is also prevalent among frequent travelers for every destination is different and comes with its own adjustment problems. In this particular essay, culture shock and its effects on the student will be discussed.
The Stages of Culture Shock
There are generally four stages of Culture shock. The Euphoric stage, Frustration stage, Adjustment stage and Mastery stage.
The initial stage of culture shock referred to as the Euphoric stage is the most exciting stage of any student studying abroad. Everything is new and beautiful. All the wonderful foods a student can try, the culture of dress, the buildings and places. In the first few weeks the student plays the role of a tourist on holiday, enjoying every second of the new experience.
After a few weeks comes the next stage, the Frustration stage also called the ‘Negation’ …show more content…

For instance, Boschner (2003) (As cited by Vaughn, 2010) said that the final stage is in fact the shock experienced when one returns to their home culture. This is sometimes called Reverse culture shock. In the Mastery stage, when students adapt to the new culture, some adapt so much to the extent that they lose their own culture. Students have incorporated ideas, values and behaviours from the new culture that they feel uncomfortable in their home culture and it is no longer as acceptable as it may have been (Sussman, 2002, as cited by Vaughn,

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