Adriane Stoner/Culture Shock

I thoroughly enjoyed Adriane Stoner’s lecture as I have many plans to travel in the future. Her lecture brought up several important aspects of the traveler’s journey. Travelers no longer have to wait long periods of time due to the accessibility of internet and of mobile technology, something I had problems with when I traveled to Canada. Because of the widespread use of this technology and social media, this interrupts with the natural process of culture shock. Culture shock forces the traveler to be uncomfortable, but through this discomfort, better adjusts to their new surroundings.

I personally believe that everyone nowadays is completely overtaken with social media and that no one knows how to hold a normal conversation anymore, so I think it is safe to say that I do think that the use of technology today interferes with culture shock. I think that people allow themselves to be brainwashed and occupied with social media too much, so much as to miss out on important events within their lives. I understand travelling and being in a new setting and being uncomfortable because I have been there. However, if you put yourself in that setting, you have to take out the most that you can and learn and grow as a person.

I can’t truly say that culture shock hit me badly when I travelled to Toronto. I was definitely in the honeymoon phase for the whole trip, which lasted a week. I was extremely excited to be out of the country, as it had been my first time and I was just ecstatic to be seeing so many cool things. I noticed many things like the fact that everyone spoke French and also there was a slower way of life than in the US. Although I had travelled outside of the country, I noticed that I had an even more culture shocking experience when I travelled just three hours south from where I lived.

I grew up in Chicago. Chicago and fast-paced life is pretty much all I know. My friend invited me down to her house for the weekend two weeks ago. She only lives three hours away, but it felt like I was on a whole different planet. She lives in a town of only five hundred people. Driving down, I was most definitely in honeymoon phase as I thought it was adorable and rustic. Then once I met the people, I was very uncomfortable. Everybody was very clique-ish and there were definitely a few stares thrown my way. They made it extremely known to me that I didn’t fit in there. My experience just proves that a traveler to a foreign place doesn’t have to go far or stay long to fully succumb to the effects of culure shock. 

Ashley C.

Culture Shock

The lecture Adriane Stoner gave to the class about her research on studying abroad and the use of new technology was interesting. I want to study abroad but probably will never get the chance to but I have traveled and been away from home for almost a month except I was with my family. We traveled through Europe. Even thought I was with my family and not staying in the same places for very long I did go through a little culture shock on that trip. I went with my aunt, uncle, cousins and sister. So having them with me to not lose all communication helped me out and looking back on it now I guess I had it pretty good. The cultural shock came from how I was treated. Everywhere we went, especially in Croatia, they treated us differently because they could tell that I was American. My cousins and I actually got kicked out of a couple stores in Croatia after walking in and saying hello. Maybe they were just having a bad day or they had some pretty bad stereotypes against Americans and were not going to change it, and I am also pretty confident it is not a rude thing to do anywhere. So dealing with that on top of the language barrier times were getting a little weird. That was right around two weeks of being away from home and the Honeymoon phase of my trip definitely kick started the whole shock of being away from home.

Even though the new media of the time was not that far off from where it is now with Facebook and cell phones, I did not take advantage of them and started missing my parents and friends pretty fast. I have friends that studied abroad so I asked them about their travels. They both told me they were good for about a month and a half to two months and then they started to get home sick and the culture shock set in pretty hard. They both told me they would do it all over again if they had the chance because of all the benefits that came along with it. The things they learned, the people they met, the opportunities they had that many of the people they know did not, and they opportunities it has provided them and the doors it has opened for them in the future. I wish I had the opportunities and means to go through with studying abroad but I guess I will have to settle for short vacations. 

Studying Abroad

            Adrienne Stoner’s research on studying abroad vs. new media was very effective in my opinion.  I think it is interesting that she made the connection about having a serious immersion in another country with our social media outlets.  I also think it is important and amazing to study abroad if possible, but I also think students do not just have to go abroad concerning their studies.  I think there is also a very high culture shock without the university studies.

            Personally I experienced what it is like the just pack up and go abroad for over a month after high school.  I knew some German and I went to Germany and the time I spent there was in the apartment/dorms of others, so it was a very involved student lifestyle.  From what I experienced I learned to speak German much better, I attended a few lectures as a student’s guest, learned about their student government, and a lot about the German culture.  Most of the German I learned was from interacting with my friends and the locals.  On top of these experiences I had absolutely no cell phone or way of contacting my parents except for the occasional expensive text.  I would definitely agree that having little contact with home helps in the development of international skills.  I think that me going abroad gave me insight to another culture and prepared me better for starting college.  It really had nothing to do with getting credits or increasing my language.  The language progression was just something that happened naturally.  I also think it is nice to go abroad and not have to worry about school because after I was done with Germany I went to the Czech Republic and Italy and I didn’t know their languages either.  Yet again I learned tremendous amounts of history and culture from going there.

            In the end I would advocate students to study abroad, but also if they feel threatened by a language barrier they shouldn’t be discouraged from going abroad in general.  The opportunities UIC has to offer are very wide and students can find places where people speak English or whatever it is their language is and study there.

Study Abroad vs New Media

Adrienne’s presentation focused on how study abroad affects new media and vice versa.  According to Adrienne, new media is the “stuff we’re using the most today that hasn’t been around long.”  An example of this is the Internet.  She goes on to say that the way study abroad students communicate with family and friends is different today versus 20 years ago.

Adrienne is right.  Because of all this new technology, we are able to leave the country while still being able to keep in contact with family and friends.  For instance, my roommate just left for Costa Rica.  However, it doesn’t even feel like she’s gone because we’ve been emailing each other back and forth constantly about living arrangements for next year.  So, even though she’s gone, it’s almost like I’m not actually going through this alone because I’m constantly keeping her updated.

She also discusses the U Curve Culture Shock which involves different phases: honeymoon phase- excited to be somewhere new, culture shock- beginning to feel unsure and disoriented, adjustment- begin adjusting to these habits over time, and mastery- when the culture is mastered and you become a part of it.  And you don’t have to go out of the country to experience this.  Looking back at my transition from high school to college, I experienced this.  When I first moved into the dorms I was super excited, but then I began missing all of my family and friends back home.  Now I feel comfortable living on my own because I’ve done it for a year.

Adrienne then asks “does new media make the shock not as severe?”   I think that part of why I was able to deal with being on my own was because of Facebook and texting.  I might not have physically been near my family and friends, but I was able to connect to them within minutes.  So yes—the  shock is not as severe because it is so easy gain access to this kind of technology.  Therefore, we are never truly alone.

Stoner - Culture Shock

I especially enjoyed Professor Stoner’s presentation on her work with culture shock and how it is affected with new media of today. I am half Middle Eastern and have gone to the Middle East several times in my life to visit family members. My cousins live in the countryside and constant Internet and even power for that matter are not something taken for granted as they are here in America, especially in a big city like Chicago. That combined with my non-international phone plan definitely created a feeling of culture shock. Since we do not go often when we do it is a summer at a time and so Professor Stoner’s outline of the time frame for when culture shock will occur, being after the honeymoon stage, struck close to home. The honeymoon stage is all too easy to relate to, you are in a foreign country and it’s exciting to see family and to see what has changed, things you’ve forgotten about, things you haven’t seen before, etc. Then, all too soon it seems, the culture shock stage, realizing the reality of your cut off predicament, comes along. I realize I would actually miss checking Facebook, keeping up with my friends and family at home, amenities and conveniences even from home became something you thought a lot more about even though they were taken for granted before.

            Occasionally I would get my “fix” of Facebook time when the Internet would be up and the power would be on long enough to get on the computer and stay on. It really made me think of how different the experience would be if I really, truly was cut off completely from Facebook would I have gone a bit more stir crazy? Eventually I did make it to the adjustment stage but it becomes a different way of being adjusted than at home. Where at home I am adjusted again by having my phone attached to my hip and my laptop easily accessible, etc. I would find myself spending more time reading or going out and exploring. It makes the arrival home seem like a shock yet again. Once I had my phone again I was almost annoyed that I was being texted, as if my friends were trying to bother me, it all did not seem like anything to me at the time but when Professor Stoner brought the topic up I thought back to this immediately and it seemed to makes sense suddenly.

            Although I would clearly have no background in studying this topic from my personal experience I would have to say that it seems like even though I did in fact have limited Facebook access it almost seemed to make the culture shock worse. Instead of feeling like it lessened the blow, like “oh it’s so nice to be connected to my friends back home!” it was more of a “I wish I didn’t know everyone was having such an amazing time while I’m stuck here with my family”. So while I cannot speak from any experience not having Facebook, I felt that I almost wished I didn’t even have that limited access because it served, to me, as a reminder of what I was missing out on.

Culture Shock / Information Design

Professor Stoner's study of culture shock is something that I could strongly relate to. The evidence she presented holds true to some of the things I have been through myself, specifically when I came to UIC.

The "Honeymoon" phase was the days before classes started and everyone was moving in. It was exciting and I was meeting a lot of people. Time went by and classes started. After a couple weeks, classes began getting tougher; and then months, friendships both at school and from back home started falling apart. This lead to my culture shock.

I went through a period where I just didn't like college period. Asher Roth's song "I Love College" came out the summer before the semester started and school was nothing like the song or the video. I wasn't talking much, to my roommate or anyone else. It was a stressful period that lasted the rest of my freshman year.

I didn't adjust until my sophomore year. By now I had accepted that the school I chose wasn't anywhere near the cliche college experience I expected. I now knew to focus on class and just go with the flow socially. Since UIC is in Chicago, I realized that I didn't have to limit myself to one area socially or professionally, which made things a lot better.

I still haven't mastered the concept of college yet. Things are always changing and there is always something shocking me that I need to adjust to. Since campus housing is no longer affordable (it never was really) I have to adjust to commuting. Commuting I'm sure will be much easier to master.

Professor Steele's lecture on the Internet and Information Design was very confusing. The only parts I understood was the first part on theory and practice and the Social Capital Theory. I have encountered both these principles in life through growing up and through being in college working towards a career.

The idea that theory informs practice, practice refines theory is logical in how humans approach life lessons. The saying "an ounce of experience is more than a pint of advice" is the first thing this principle reminded me of. Humans form theories on things in life, but the practice that these theories apply to causes us to refine these theories because of how situations change due to the many individual circumstances that affect them.

Social Capital Theory is the principle that is most important to me. I believe that a strong network is more important than a GPA. For a career, it isn't always about what you know, but who you know. Building a strong network of important and trusted individuals enables you to also be trusted by the people in positions of power. It can be the difference between you getting the job or not getting the job you desired.

Adrian Stoner....Culture Shock

Adriane Stoner’s lecture caught my attention because I was able to relate to her experiences with culture shock. Her lecture focused on this subject while studying abroad and I found myself relating to this topic in different ways. The majority of my family resides in Europe and I have been fortunate enough to travel there often to visit. I have experienced the vacationing aspect and also a bit of the schooling process as well. Culture shock is definitely something that people will experience while visiting Europe and I believe that one can experience it in a very short amount of time frame, such as a week.

I have personally traveled to Poland, Austria, Germany, as well as London. Besides the language barrier, the entire way of life differs greatly from the US. One thing that I learned from my travels about Europe is that people enjoy life on a much higher level than people in the U.S., which is something that I admire.  I find it very often that in the U.S, people are constantly working, which in turn leads to famous expressions such as, “People live to work”. In Europe businesses are closed on Sundays which is considered a family day. Saturdays everything closes around 5:00pm and everyone makes an effort to spend time with the family by sitting down at a dinner table and enjoy a family dinner. On the down side, everything from daily commute all the way to the financial aspect is drastically different than that of the U.S. Not everyone owns a vehicle there and more people take public transportation. The roads are narrow and in different parts of Europe highways can be quite rare, which leads to very long commutes. 

The economical state of Europe is also a bit on the shocking side. Everything is far more expensive compared to the U.S because of it. However, depending on the location one travels to, everyone for the most part, is friendly and helpful . Then there are those parts of Europe such as Paris where people are extremely rude and arrogant. The schooling process is also very different. Although, education is much more affordable than it is out here, often times it is also much more demanding and difficult.

Lastly, my views on communicating were a bit different than those of Adriane’s. I did find it much more difficult to find means of communicating with my family in the states. Not only because the time difference is about seven hours ahead, but also because their rate plans are so expensive I was unable to pick up the phone at any given time and call my family. Cell phone use was pretty much restricted to its use only within Europe. I was only able to use landline phones with a calling card or I would have to wait for my family to call me. Although the internet access was much more available, I found myself never being able to communicate fully at a given hour and finding myself waiting for a response due to the 7hr time difference. This was very difficult for me to adjust to due to the time zone difference.

Often times, I believe we take advantage of the privileges that we have until we are faced with different circumstances. I love the fact that I am fortunate enough to own a vehicle, a mobile device and minor things that we often do not appreciate or acknowledge until we are faced with rather inconvenient circumstances.  I enjoyed Adriane’s lecture very much and I was able to relate to her experience. I believe culture shock is inevitable however, it is something that that everyone should experience.