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1、Cases 33-36Case 33The prblem that Li Li has encountered during her stay in the United States are typical of those that people may face when they enter a new culture.Obviously Li Li has gone through distinct stages in the process her adaptation to the American cultural environment: honeymoon period (
2、Letter 1), when she was fascinated and excited by almost everything in the United States and felt elated to be in the new culture; culture shock (Letter 2), when she was flooded with many problems that she had not been prepared for and became extremely homesick; initial adjustment (Letter 3), when s
3、he learned more about American culture and cultural adaptation and began to feel much better; mental isolation (Letter 4), when she felt frustrated and became even hostile towards Americans; and acceptance period (Letter 5), when she began to tralize the positive and negative aspects of the country
4、and have a more balanced perspective about her experiences there.What she means by “I think I have finally arrived in America” in her fifth letter is that she has finally learned to accep the culture different from her own and begun to integret herself into it. She is no longer like a fish out of wa
5、ter, and does not feel alienated from the new environment any more.Case 34In this case, it seems that Kevin failed to understand that customs for such a social gathering would be culturally different and Blanca was not properly prepared for experiencing a culture shock like this when she came to wor
6、k and live in a new cultural environment.In Dominican culture, it is usually considered inappropriate for a young unmarried female to go to a social gathering without anyone else accompanying her. A chaperone is often required, and getting ones parents permission is also necessary. However, all this
7、 may be very strange to North Americans nowadays. Kevin could not quite understand why Blanca, already an adult supposed to be independent, had to bring her little sister along to the gathering so as to get her parents permission.Another thing on which they differ is the way they pay checks. In Domi
8、nican culture, somewhat like Chinese culture, people going out to eat together seldom pay separately. The elder ones would pay for the younger ones, and the male would pay for the female. Having expected that Kevin would pay for their meals, Blanca didnt bring much money with her. Therefore, when Ke
9、vin said “separate checks, please” to the waiter, just as North American people usually do, he didnt realize that he had put Blanca in a very embarassing situation. Thats why Blanca whispered to her sister and just ordered something to drink.Case 35The Americans personal experience in Russia has tau
10、ght us not to jump to a conclusion about any other culture. We may misinterpret the behavior and intention of people in other cultures, for we are easily influenced by some popular overgeneralizations about other cultures. We have to be aware that things in other cultures may not be what they appear
11、 to us foreigners. One of the difficulties we will experience in adjusting to a new culture is that we may have taken too much of our own “cultural baggage”: misleading stereotypes and preconceptions about members of that culture. In intercultural communication it is sometimes true that a little lea
12、rning about other cultures can be a dangerous thing. Distorted or biased knowledge may be worse than no knowledge at all. Even if what we know about other cultures has been proved to be right and well grounded, we still have to remember that there is often variation within any culture. We should alw
13、ays be prepared for exceptions when interacting with individuals from another culture.Case 36We all know that we are members of a particular culture and we share the same cultural identity with other members of the culture. However, much of our cultural identity may simply be outside of our awarenes
14、s. Not until we find ourselves in situation where our sense of self-our values, beliefs, practices-is called into question do we perceive the tacit dimensions of our cultural identity. In this incident, the German woman has found out that Americans treat their neighbors in a way that is different fr
15、om the way Germans do. As her expectations were thwarted, she became aware of her own cultural identity, her cultural way of thinking, of interpreting the world. This could be a painful process, which many of us, as the German woman in this case, may not be prepared for. Therefore, it is important to raise peoples awareness of their culturally shaped identity and acknowledge the likelihood of some emotional disturbance during the cultural adjustment.1
