Never came across this word until March this year, I literally did not know it existed and when I got to know, my friends and I jokingly said... "Since this can also kill as we read in books, why not update the medical textbooks to include it amongst other types of shocks, lol."
Cultural shock by definition refers to the inexplicable confusion and discomfort that could arise from traveling out and trying to live with other persons who share different cultural beliefs, could be mild but sometimes severe enough to cause death.
There are many things that exposes someone to cultural shocks and they includes:
- Immigration and Emigration
- Education
- Businesses.
- Travelling
These acts cause us to move from one location to another and when we get to stay there longer, we might get to witness this.
Talking of cultural shocks, I think I have witnessed one and that was when I was in secondary school.
Since my school was in another state, I did not have much options other than living as a boarder which means I have to adapt to the ways of life of not just the state my school was in but also the ways of life of my very school.
The cultural shock I saw there that nearly made me go nuts was them waking up by 4:00am (I hope that counts as one, hehehe)
But honestly to someone who loves sleeping and functions better when I've had a good night sleep, it was a cultural shock that I found it difficult to adapt to.
Personally, I asked myself severally why children; I was eleven when I entered that school so I actually qualified as a child too, should be made to wake up by 4:00am everyday just to keep the schedules running and it did not make any sense to me...
I mean, the classes could be reduced to 6sessions or 5sessions rather than the 8sessions we had provided we get to sleep well for a better cognitive output and also for our health but well, since no one ever complained we were left to pass through that.
I adapted though but I guess I'm still paying for those sleeps even now.
Nevertheless, this prompt got me reading and checking out different cultural shocks in the world and I was surprised to find Sense Of Time as one of them.
From what I found out, Germans hold punctuality to their activities in high esteem but over here in Nigeria, we have adapted to adding 30minutes and an hour to every time we've been given in the name of African time.
Now this doesn't make sense at all because time should really be of essence and it's eating deep inside us.... I hope we get closer to being the Germans in this regard.
Cultural shocks can really be challenging in it's own way but adapting to the various cultures is a great way of fostering healthy relationships , personal growth and increased cultural awareness.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day 👍