Handbook

Culture and Cultural Issues

What do we mean when we say, "culture?" What is it? Put simply, culture is the sum total of the institutions, beliefs, customs, behaviors, artifacts, language, and attitudes of a particular group of people. It is learned and transmitted from generation to generation. It is cumulative and ever changing. It is the way you think, act, speak, and walk as well as what you think about, why you act the way you do, what you say, and how you walk. It is the total way of life of a people. Your culture affects everything you do and it colors the way you view other cultures.

When two cultures come into contact, both are changed in some way. Some are affected negatively, some are affected positively, but none escapes influence. It is this mingling of cultures that forms the primary focus of study abroad. Adapting to a new culture and learning from it (in essence, coming into contact with a different culture and being changed by it) are what study abroad is all about.

Invariably, however, this change can cause uneasiness. This happens especially when the contact of cultures involves extreme differences, or even contradictory views or customs. Dealing with this uneasiness is part of the process -and some of the more difficult things to come to grips with are listed below.

Stereotypes

Numerous studies have been done to identify specific characteristics that distinguish one culture form another. This anthropological approach to cultural differences and similarities of course can and should be studied. Most overseas visitors and those who receive them, however, often unfortunately are captured by misleading and often dangerous stereotyping. Misconceptions exist on both sides.

Frequently, the stereotype of the American is far from complimentary: the boorish tourist who expects everyone to speak English, the arrogant patriot who thinks every country in the world should pattern itself after the United States, the drunken reveler who sees the anonymity of traveling abroad as an opportunity to drop all civilized inhibitions--all have contributed to the development of this unfortunate stereotype that cannot be applied arbitrarily, at least to yourself - we hope!

Studying overseas involves dealing with your host culture's stereotypes about you and it also involves coming to grips with your own stereotypes about your host culture. It is necessary to recognize that not everyone in your host country is going to behave like a character out of a comic book. For example, all Australians do not dress like Crocodile Dundee and all Chinese don't know martial arts.

Keep in mind that people of other cultures are just as adept at stereotyping the American as we are at stereotyping them. The following are a few examples of the qualities (some positive, some negative) that other frequently associate with the "typical " American:

• Outgoing and friendly
• Informal
• Loud, rude, boastful
• Immature
• Hard working
• Extravagant and wasteful
• Sure they have all the answers
• Lacking in class consciousness -disrespectful of authority
• Racially prejudiced
• Ignorant of other countries
• Wealthy
• Generous
• Promiscuous
• Always in a hurry

While a stereotype might possess some grain of truth, it is obvious when we consider individual differences that not every American fits the above description. The same is true about your hosts vis-à-vis your own preconceptions, for example, about the Germans, the English, the Japanese, the Italians, the Spaniards, the Russians, etc.

Prejudice

Some stereotypes are openly hostile and can lead to active prejudice against a group or nationality. Some students may encounter active hostility to Americans while they are overseas. This hostility can take many forms. Verbal insults are usually the most common and least dangerous. Students who find themselves in such situations need to simply walk away. Responding to insults usually leads to bar brawls and that is something you want to avoid, especially if you are not on your home turf.

Prejudice can be the most difficult part of a student's experience overseas. It doesn't occur to everyone and some students may never even know it is happening, but students should be aware of the possibility.

Unfortunately, many people overseas have negative impressions or stereotypes about Americans. It's very important that you don't fall into these stereotypes. Instead, try to defeat them by being patient, open-minded and gracious. Following are some unflattering questions and generalizations about the U.S.A. that you may hear in another country. If these or similar questions are posed to you while abroad try not to become overly defensive. Remember that you are there to learn about another culture, not to promote and become entrenched in your own.

• We've heard much about how easy your schools are. How can such a great nation have such a poor system of education?
• Why do you put your old people in nursing homes? Don't you care about your elderly?
• How can such a rich country have so many poor people?
• Why are Americans so ignorant of the world?
• How can you talk so much about human rights when you have racial problems in the US?
• America is well known to us from TV and films. With all that sex and drugs going on, you must be immoral.
• Why are you always trying to force your form of government on everyone else?
• You Americans don't respect marriage. Divorce for you is as simple as going to the market.
• Do you own a gun?

Standing out

If you are in a minority in the environment you find yourself living in, people will be very curious about you. Children may follow you on the street. People may yell out your most obvious physical characteristics to acknowledge you, or just stare and point at you. You may be surprised to hear people calling you "Foreigner, Blond One, Tall One, Black One, Crazy Tattooed Man, etc." Most of this attention is not negative or dangerous, but sometimes you may be categorized based stereotypes (which may be very different from country to country).

Prior to leaving, ask your advisor or program about information and talk to other students about possible scenarios.

Areas of Cultural Difference

Remedies for stereotypes and prejudice depend wholly on individual behaviors. With this in mind, it is important to note specific areas where cultural misunderstandings can occur. If you are aware of the pitfalls, you can avoid them and also avoid many of the problems that prejudice can cause.

Personal Space - In every culture, there is a conception of what is considered personal space. Personal space is the area around you, which you reserve for yourself and someone with whom you are on intimate terms. Unconsciously, every time you interact with people, you obey these rules of space. When two individuals are talking on the street, they will automatically range themselves outside this zone of personal space. Strangers will stand further apart from each other than friends, and boyfriends and girlfriends tend to stand closer to each other than friends. In the US, this zone of personal space is actually quite large when compared to other cultures.

Learn the etiquette of personal space in your host culture by observing other people. Do not be offended if someone invades "your" space merely by accident. Remember that in some cultures the American norm of wide personal space translates into aloofness and standoffish behavior. Your own personal habits could be telling other people something about you that isn't really true.

Food and Eating - If you are observant, you will notice that people in other countries eat differently from Americans. For example, in some countries you will be stared at when you put down your knife and fork and change hands after cutting a piece of food. In some countries, it is considered impolite to keep your hands under the table when you are not using them to hold utensils. And it is still considered peculiar, at least, to pour with the left hand. It is considered rude in some countries to use chopsticks like a knife and fork to cut food.

You may also encounter a few "food-surprises." You shouldn't assume that words that are used in the U.S. mean the same things abroad. For example, "spaghetti" in Italy is a first course. Salad is eaten right before dessert in France. Corn is fed to pigs. A martini in most European establishments is interpreted as vermouth. European popcorn is frequently sugared. French fries ("chips") might be served with mustard or mayonnaise or vinegar, rather than ketchup.

Menus may state whether the tip and/or taxes are included in the bill or not. Check the customs of the country which you are visiting: tipping customs vary, and while in some countries a gratuity of 12-15% is expected, in other countries tipping isn't done at all.

Polite Behavior - Every culture has an idea of what is considered "polite", what is considered "informal" and what is considered "rude." These fine shades of social behavior take years to learn, even for natives; so don't be discouraged if it takes you a while to adjust to these norms. Indeed, some people, even in their own cultures, never quite get the hang of these distinctions.

To help you out, here are some examples of things that Americans do in public that may be considered rude in some other societies. (It may be a good idea to observe the way members of your host culture interact on these issues before trying them out yourself).

Americans tease each other, call people by their first names, ask personal questions and talk about themselves personally, smile at strangers, introduce themselves to strangers, dress casually, shout out to people, point, think that it's all right to admit ignorance, think that manners and education are not important except in academic communities, believe that "one-upmanship" is a natural means of social interaction.

It is important to remember that when you are unsure of an aspect of social behavior, it is better to err on the side of politeness. If an off-color joke pops into your head at the dinner table, think carefully before blurting it out. If it isn't something you could freely talk about in front of you grandparents, don't take the chance. Of course, levels of familiarity are often established very quickly between young people regardless of their cultural backgrounds. So it really depends on what type of situation you are in.

No matter where you are or whom you are talking to, remember to say please, thank you and good morning/ afternoon/ evening, even if you are not used to doing this at home. It is simply good manners no matter where you are and it can go a long way to dispel the myth of the rude American tourist.

Humor - Senses of humor differ drastically from culture to culture. What may be funny to you is not always going to be funny to an Australian, for example. Conversely, what an Australian considers hilarious, you may find downright rude or offensive. Be careful about what you joke about overseas and observe the joking behaviors of your friends. Learn from other people's mistakes! If a joke about the Queen Mother gets a friend of yours a mouthful of teeth in a London pub, remember not to make the same kind of jokes. Again, it is best to err on the side of caution when it comes to humor.

Appropriate Topics of Conversation - many cultures have taboo subjects that may or may not make any sense to most Americans. Try to find out what can be safely spoken about in polite conversation and what might be considered off-color or rude. Political discussions, especially, can become very heated. If you are not sure where you stand on an issue or are not willing to discuss it, simply back out of the discussion. The last thing most people want to hear is an ill-informed American talking loudly about some issue in local politics about which s/he has absolutely no idea.

Choose your topics carefully. Try not to become engaged in any conversation which begins with, "Why are you Americans so...", or "Why does America feel it has the right to..." Arguing these points with someone, whether right or wrong, tends to reinforce stereotypes and inflame nationalist tempers. Remember, it is always perfectly justified to defend your country's actions and policies if you feel so inclined, but avoid arguing from an emotional standpoint and never fall back on stereotypes when you are engaged in discussions like these. For instance, try to avoid beginning your sentences with, "In America we do this..." or "Things are so much better in the States..." These are the classic refrains of the ugly American.

Alcohol and Drugs - Attitudes towards alcohol and drug use vary considerably from culture to culture. Social drinking is almost always acceptable whereas public drunkenness is not. However, very few countries are liberal in regards to drugs. The penalties may be the same for marijuana and heroin. Read about the laws of the country you are visiting. Drug use may be very rare in your host country and many people will be horrified to learn about drug use in the U.S.

Drugs account for 1/3 of Americans arrested overseas. If you get caught with them, you could be thrown into a jail unlike any you could ever imagine. And the U.S. government cannot help you out of such a situation. You are subject to laws of that country. Some countries have death penalties for illegal drug possession (Turkey, Malaysia, etc.), with the average sentence being over seven years. The fact you were carrying a small amount may not make a difference at all.

Dealing with Culture Shock

Culture Shock - Traveling abroad can be one of the most exhilarating learning experiences of your life. Or, it can turn out to be a series of bewildering and frustrating incidents that leave you longing for home. Aside from the basic preparation of the "hows" and "wheres" of your trip, it is valuable to also take some time to investigate the "what am I likely to encounter" that is, the things that will happen to you as you mingle with people whose values, traits and characteristics are different from your own. By thinking and preparing for these encounters, you will certainly enrich your travel abroad experience.

We are surrounded by elements in our own culture, which influence who we are and how we relate to the world. Because we have grown up with this culture, we are comfortable in it. Our values and attitudes about who we are and how things should be have been shaped by our experiences in our native culture. What happens when we suddenly lose cues and symbols that orient us to situations of daily life? What happens when facial expressions, gestures and words are no longer familiar? The psychological discomfort that we feel in this foreign situation is commonly known as "Culture Shock."

What Causes Culture Shock? The difference between your expectations and what you actually experience is where you begin to find problems in adjusting. This is not a vacation in a foreign country but an acculturation exercise, and you are expected to blend in and live like members of the student population.

In spite of the fact that you may already have visited your host country, you will find it different to actually live there. It is easy to become frustrated by the daily differences like operating a phone, finding convenient shopping hours and getting around. The easily accessible facilities taken for granted in the U.S. are not always available, and this can prove upsetting and stressful. This is an opportunity to discover why most students find study abroad so rewarding - it forces you to learn about your personal limits and strengths.

During any semester abroad, you can expect to experience a roller coaster of emotions. Although your time in another country is going to be exciting and fulfilling, you cannot expect to be happy and carefree 24 hours a day. Unlike a vacation, studying abroad is an academic exercise, which is both challenging and rewarding. By choosing to study in a foreign country, you have taken a step away from the comfort and familiarity of home. You may find that you feel more sensitive and more vulnerable to the daily trials of college life while you are overseas. When problems arise, remember that an open mind and a positive attitude are the best ways to combat culture shock.

Culture shock is a logical reaction to differences we encounter in a foreign culture. Luckily, it is only one step in the process of getting into the culture of a foreign country. The various phases, which you might find yourself going through in this process, include (See Appendix B for illustration):

1. Being fascinated with all the new things you are experiencing.
2. Feeling uncomfortable because you don't belong.
3. Rejecting the foreign culture and people as being strange.
4. Learning to decipher foreign behavior and customs.
5. Accepting and enjoying the foreign culture.

Our emotional reactions to these various phases will influence how we relate to local citizens. Naturally, being excited and fascinated with foreign behavior and customs will help to pave the way for positive interaction. Conversely, acting hostile and aggressive toward those "strange and un-American" customs will do little more than perpetuate the "ugly American" image and cause foreigners to want to avoid us. Below is a collection of suggestions for you to follow that can do a lot to help you overcome the negative aspects of culture shock.

Ways To Successfully Adapt To Your Host Culture

Knowledgeable travelers advise handling "culture shock" with adaptability, a sense of humor, and a lot of common sense. Give yourself time to become accustomed to the cultural differences. You may even find that many of the differences are a pleasant change from the U.S. way of life. If you have an active interest in finding meaningful patterns for unfamiliar customs, it expands your horizons and adds the wealth of another culture to your own. The following suggestions should minimize the negative effects of "culture shock" and help you make the most out of your study abroad experience.

1. Maintain a flexible personality and be open-minded. Flexible personalities tend to cope and adjust more successfully in unfamiliar settings than rigid personalities. Nothing will be more crucial to your experience than the right attitude toward your host country and your host culture.
2. Stay motivated. Motivated individuals tend to take the necessary steps to conquer cultural problems to a far greater extent than apathetic individuals.
3. Be patient. You will be able to make substantial headway if you can keep your frustration level in check and approach your studies, yourself, and your hosts with tolerance and perseverance.
4. Be tolerant of ambiguity while taking time to be familiar with your surroundings. At times, especially at first, you may not understand what is going on around you. Fortunately, by becoming familiar with the behaviors and customs, even if you don't understand them completely, you will find it easier to get along.
5. Behave in a manner you would deem proper for a foreigner in your country. Well-mannered people in the U.S. will most likely be considered such elsewhere. Likewise, bad mannered people will probably be judged as such in whatever culture they reside.
6. Do not cover mistakes with arrogance. Your hosts will enjoy introducing you to his or her culture. Maintain a docile attitude.
7. Remain open and sensitive. Learning how to operate in your host country requires analytical observation and placing some of your own culture behaviors on the back burner.
8. Assume positive behavior towards you. Polite behavior may be defined differently in different cultures; you might find that a behavior that appears negative is actually intended in a positive manner.
9. Make your judgment about your host from their cultural environment, not from yours. A frequent mistake is to make a judgment about your host within your cultural context instead of his or her cultural context.
10. Forget all academic preparation and interact with your host in as humanly a fashion as possible. We tend to exaggerate the differences between people and the problems of living abroad. By seeing your host as an equal with the same potential for emotion as yourself, you will create a productive, positive relationship that will pave the road to a successful study abroad experience.
11. Be sensitively aware of the feelings of other people, thus preventing what might be offensive behavior on your part. This applies very much to photography.
12. Realize that often the people in the country you visit have time concepts and thought patterns different from your own. This does not necessarily make them rude, only different.
13. Instead of looking for an extended vacation, discover the satisfaction of immersing yourself in a different way of life. You will find your experiences deeply rewarding and fulfilling and will cherish the memories for the rest of your life. And although an occasional vacation while abroad does add to your understanding, leaving your city to travel every weekend is the easiest way not to become part of the host culture. You'll be leaving town at the time when most of the locals your age are enjoying their social lives, an experience that can do a lot to further your intercultural education.
14. Remember that you are only one of the thousands of tourists visiting this country and do not expect special privileges.
15. Experiment with new things that you can't do or try at home. You can get hamburgers, baseball and MTV in the U.S. Take full advantage of the opportunity given to you!
16. Be friendly and outgoing. People who are friendly have more fun. The best resource in a foreign place is the local population. Becoming friends with people who live in your host city can be the best way to get to know the culture and area. Locals have all the inside information about what their town has to offer and are usually willing to share it. Keep in mind that if you aren't enjoying a place, it's possible that you just haven't seen enough of it. Talk to the people who live there. Get suggestions from them about what to do and see and experience the things that they consider important. You can learn a lot this way and enjoy yourself in the meantime.
17. Be more than just a tourist. Tourists travel to shop and see. Students travel to learn and do. You are only going to be overseas for a short period of time. Some of you may never have the chance to experience this again. Make the most of it. Don't wait for someone else to plan things for you. Be an explorer.
18. Don't expect perfection. The students who arrive in their host country with the knowledge that not everything is going to be as they have envisioned it are better able to cope with the inevitable hurdles that all students must deal with when studying abroad.
19. Respect the opinions and customs of the people you meet overseas. Nothing will earn you a quicker reputation as an "ugly American" than assuming a disrespectful and self-righteous attitude, when dealing with others. Listen, observe and be sensitive.
20. Try to engage in familiar physical activities, like swimming, walking, bicycling, etc., to keep from feeling overwhelmed by a completely foreign situation.
21. Work on increasing your language proficiency. Many of the misunderstandings and confusion you experience abroad are a result of the language barrier. By improving your conversation and listening skills, you will be able to better understand what's going on around you.
22. Use humor to deal with difficult situations. Taking things too seriously and brooding about them only intensifies negative feelings. Looking back at a stressful situation and finding something about it to laugh at is a great tension reliever and it will diffuse your sense of discomfort, ambiguity or adversity.
23. Know your beliefs and values and prepare yourself for adjustment. When you are abroad, they are very likely to be challenged. In order to not fall into the trap of feeling marginal in both cultures, you should try to maintain a strong sense of self. The better you understand yourself and the cultural community you identify with, the easier it will be to feel comfortable in a new cultural environment. This is not to say that you should reject your host culture. Just make up your mind to neither resist the new culture nor surrender completely to it. Retain your own cultural identity but recognize the right for others to retain theirs. You may even find yourself incorporating various new cultural aspects into your own regimen.
24. Don't try to find a "little America" wherever you go. By doing so, you'll miss so many of the beautiful experiences your host country has to offer. Discovering cultural differences and experiencing "culture shock" are both powerful learning tools. Through these, one gains a high degree of self understanding and personal growth. Past travelers have claimed that by traveling abroad you get a great education in what it means to be an American and also in how the rest of the world's population lives and thinks.
25. Above all, know that any anxiety or disorientation you feel is normal and keep in mind that given time, the effects you feel from culture shock will pass.

Remember that there may be difficult and even frustrating times for you overseas. But as past travelers have noticed, bad moments are quickly forgotten, and even the bad experiences are priceless. With the right attitude, the good times you had will stay with you longer and will easily overshadow the bad.

Where to Go for Advice

In the rare event that nothing helps and you are miserable, try talking to someone at your host school. The international students' office at each university understands this problem and is only too happy to make this period of adjustment easier. They may encourage you to join the university's Student Union, various athletic and social clubs, and to meet students from your host culture and participate in activities that you normally enjoy at home. If you seem to be experiencing culture shock or loneliness for an extended time while you are overseas, we would recommend you phone or e-mail our office to talk it over. We are as interested as you are in making sure that the period of study abroad is successful, both personally and academically.

Return Shock

After devoting all of this time to adapting to your host culture, the time will come when you have to get ready to return to the United States. If you are like most travelers, you are already torn; you are anxious to get home to see family and friends, to get behind the wheel of an automobile, to eat the foods you couldn't get in your host country. Yet you will be leaving what has become "home", to you; good friends, countless places to go and things to do and see. As you arrive back in the states, you are likely to experience culture shock again, called "return shock."

Just as your host country seemed difficult and unmanageable to you a little while ago, home may seem that way to you now. "Return shock" is a perfectly normal reaction suffered by many who have been abroad. It could range from annoyance at not finding the food and products to which you have become accustomed to difficulty reestablishing ties with family and friends. The degree of return shock will depend upon:

• the length of your absence,
• how much contact with home you maintained
• if you had been separated from your family before
• your previous experience traveling
• how much you enjoyed your study abroad
• if you traveled with someone or alone
• how easily you adapted to your host culture (Ironically, the easier you adapted, the more difficult the return shock will be. Conversely, those who have experienced difficult culture shock upon arriving in their host country will not typically have a great adjustment problem returning home).
• One of the primary reasons you were encouraged to study abroad was to give you a chance to develop new insights and perspectives, to learn about yourself and grow emotionally and intellectually. If your study abroad experience was at all successful, you will not return home exactly the same person you were when you left. Those whom you left at home may not realize the changes that have taken place in you. If you are returning to live with your parents after having been on your own, differences are bound to surface. Friends who have been absorbed in their own world while you were gone may not be particularly interested in hearing the details of your experience. You may feel hurt by their disinterest and turn defensive. Places which had been so familiar to you in the past (home, school, the mall) may suddenly seem very foreign. You may initially feel that you no longer fit in. The truth is, you have changed culturally.

Much research has been done concerning this topic, and it has been found that there are some individual characteristics that can be affected by living in other cultures. Some of these characteristics are:

• more aware of international issues and needs
• less authoritarianism or rigidity in ways of thinking
• more independence
• a more realistic spectrum of success standards
• more tolerance in different points of view
• increased sensitivity to differences in people
• an increase in the acceptance of others
• more complex self thinking that will help when making decisions
• an increase in creativity, combining different cultural ideas
• a deep appreciation of "cultural relativity"
• competence in another language

There are no easy answers to deal with "return shock." The same advice that was given to you to adjust to culture shock is probably best for return shock, too. Be aware that what you are feeling is quite normal. Remain flexible and get involved with activities and friends. Try to reintegrate into your society rather than dwelling on what you have left. Where friends and family are involved, communication is the key. Talk to them; tell them how are you feeling, let them know about "return shock." They will be eager to help you and will wait for you to " get back to normal." This doesn't mean that you have to renounce your experience and give up everything you've gained. Learn to strike a balance between the old and the new, just as you did when first adjusting to your host culture. As much time and effort as you devoted to dealing with culture shock, you must now devote to overcoming return shock.

Here are some suggestions to help ease your transition back to the states:

• Find a more receptive audience. Stay in touch with those whom you shared your study abroad experience. They can provide support and understanding as you compare notes.
• Take advantage of opportunities to meet other returned study abroad students. They are generally more interested and more capable of understanding your experiences than people who stayed home, and will themselves be looking for someone with whom to share their stories.
• Participate in new study abroad recruitment and orientation at MU. From working as a volunteer or peer advisor to giving presentations in language classes, there are numerous ways for you to share your experience with others.
• Become active internationally at MU. Get involved with international students on campus; the Office for International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) offers programs that seek to bring international students into greater contact with Americans.
• The International Programming Committee is another way to get involved in international activities. The IPC plans various international events and activities throughout the year, such as the International Bazaar and International Night. For information about these programs, contact ISSS at 882-8148.
• Become active with one of the many international student organizations on campus. For contact information for the international student associations, call 882-8148.
• Request an international roommate if you live on campus, live in the International House in Laws Hall, or try to form your own "language house" (or apartment) to keep your language skills up.
• Continue your foreign language studies. Enroll in courses, which have an emphasis on global issues and don't be afraid to bring your new perspective into all of your classes. There are also many international /intercultural events throughout the year, such as lectures, film series, and international festivals.

Again, remember that the return shock is temporary and you will be able to readjust to your home culture. Be patient, flexible and understanding of the events and people around you and you will be reintegrated into the culture you have always known.