CULTURE SHOCK STORIES

Task 1: You are going to read 6 stories taken from Etiquette Hell Forum on the topic: Culture shock
stories.
For questions 1-14, choose your answers from the people (A-F). Some of the choices may be required
more than once.
Note: When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order.

According to the article, which person/ people:
irritated his/ her relative

1

made a false assumption

2

experienced awkwardness in his/her living place

3

predicted herself/himself to be struck with awe

5

was forced to do what he/she thought as impolite

6

contracted an illness

7

was taken aback by some people’s disregard of security

8

complained about strict regulations

9

experienced substandard living conditions

10

led an urban life

11

was struck by intense fear

12

got treats thanks to his/ her look

13

got confused with dishes’ names

14


4

WHAT’S YOUR CULTURE SHOCK STORY?
Page 1


Six posters shared their experience of sudden exposure to a different culture on Etiquette Hell Forum.

A

When I was living in London there was an

interesting experience. My Aunt has a place in the
country and a house in London. I had always visited
her at her country place, and stayed at a hotel in
London. However, that time I came to live with her in
London. When I landed at Heathrow, I grabbed a taxi

insane and went into the house. I was desperate so I
followed her feeling really guilty.
That was until I saw the dessert bars on the kitchen
table with a note "Just help yourself! Happy 150th
Anniversary Zumbrota!"

and gave the driver the address; I got to the house

My cousin was also annoyed with me because I kept

and


locking the car. "Why in the world are you locking a

thought

to

myself

"hmm...wonder

what

car??"

apartment she lives in".
That was until I rang the door bell and the butler
answered and I asked him which apartment my aunt
lived in. His response "You must be the American.
Madam is in the library waiting for you, she has tea
and sandwiches waiting, I'll take your bags up to your

C

I spent six months as an exchange student

in the Netherlands and the smallness was probably

room. The library is the second room down the hall."

the biggest surprise, even though I knew to expect it.


Turns out what I assumed was an apartment building

I lived in a dorm type apartment with maybe ten

was her actual house, I always assumed that most

other students, male and female. In Finland it's

people lived in flats in London since housing was so

almost always gender-separated and having to share

expensive.

the bathroom with a strange man who wasn't in the

And then there was the whole "chips are not potato
chips, they are French fries" incident that left my aunt
ROFL

[1]

at a pub when I ordered a sandwich and chips

thinking I was getting potato chips and not French
fries.
[1]

habit of locking doors (I've only recently found out

that in some countries the custom is to knock on the
door and not lock it) was a bit difficult for me. I had
lived with roommates in Finland but it was always just
two or three people in an apartment, not eleven and
we only had two toilets and two bathrooms with two

ROFL: (Internet slang) Rolling on the floor, laughing

showers each (in the bathroom that was on my side of
the apartment one shower stall didn't lock and the

B

other didn't work properly) and three sinks. There's
nothing wrong with that kind of housing but I'm very
I was visiting my father's small

shy and even brushing my teeth when someone can

Southeastern Minnesota town from Los Angeles. It

walk in (the bathroom didn't really have a door) made

happened to be the town’s 150th anniversary and

me uncomfortable. The others didn't seem to mind

there was a parade through the main part of town.

and walked around half-naked. I tended to get up


Older relatives were in the parade for their 150th

before the others and went to bed when they were

anniversary; their home was in town a block away

cooking dinner at 9 pm. I think that they found me

from the parade.

very strange.

So my cousin told me we could walk to their house
and use the bathroom. I fought, saying “we can't just
go into their house and use the facilities, they’re not
home. That’s just rude”, my cousin thought I was

Page 2

D

When I was young, my family moved to

Turkey. The first shock was walking into the airport


bathroom and finding nothing but a porcelain hole in

had to book your cooking time (when you wanted to


the ground. I cried the entire way to the hotel. It

use the cooker) on a weekly schedule.

didn't take long to figure out we were out of our
element. For me it was the adventure of a lifetime.
For my mom (who had four children under the age of
six), it must have been more like a nightmare. (We
four kids all came down with chicken pox the first
couple months of moving there)
The city we lived in was dirty, overcrowded, and had
rats the size of cats (I remember trying to 'pet the
kitty', only to have mom yank me away). We
couldn't drink the tap water, there were earthquakes
and power outages on a regular basis (we'd be in the
elevator at the most inconvenient times), and oh! The
roaches! But as I said, for a kid it was awesome. The

The floor monitor sold the tokens for the washing
machine which you reserved by booking it in the
reservation book. You were only allowed to do one
wash per week. The same thing applied to the tumble
drier.
I had come from a fairly laidback single sex English
hall of residence where people cooked when they
wanted and used the launderette as they pleased and
the only rules related to music volume. I found the
rigidity of the hall rules difficult to adjust to, not least
because everyone else in the hall took them so

seriously.

Turks would fawn over my siblings and I as we were

I also found the fact that there were 16 students on

blond haired and blue eyed. We got pinched on the

my corridor and 2 bathrooms. I was one of only 2

cheeks, and be given sweets when we walked by

women. I had a hard time adjusting to sharing

pastry shops.

bathrooms with that many men. Most of them did not

I remember the day I found what I thought was a
dinosaur bone in the playground at school- later I

lock the door, and had a fairly relaxed attitude to
nudity in the communal areas.

found out it was just a sheep's leg bone leftover from
the sacrifices that had been made a few weeks
previous (we would line up along the playground wall
to watch it happen). We got to ride horse and
buggies, see bears dancing in the streets for money,
and the beaches were magnificent (despite getting

stung by jellyfish). And holy cow, the baklava was
good!

E

F

I am a city girl. I live in a large city, and

for most of my adult life I lived in an apartment with
people on all sides. Now... that being said, I went to
visit my best friend in Idaho. At the time she lived in
a mobile on 5 acres out in the middle of nowhere.
I was shocked... SHOCKED that they didn't lock the
doors and left their car keys in the car, unlocked. We

I think for me the greatest experience of

took a trip to Yellowstone one day, and when we got

culture shock was my semester in Germany as a

back I had a panic attack because the front door was

student. I couldn't get over how the hall of residence

wide open. They said "Well, ya, it's hot!

worked.


want it to be too warm in the house!" We were gone

You arrived and checked in and were

We don't

introduced to the floor monitor who always had the

ALL DAY with the front door open!

last room on the right of the floor (that was a rule).

They have now moved about 30 miles to another little

He (in this case) gave me the key to the fridge and

town and have sold the mobile and the land. They

told me which shelf I was allowed to use. This was

have a lovely cute house and they told me when the

then marked on the diagram of the fridge that he kept

sale was final, there weren't even any keys for the

and replicated on the diagram that was on the fridge

doors.


door. One of my friends was on a floor where you

STILL no keys for the locks. I got up one morning to

Page 3

They've lived there for a few years now and


discover they left the front door open because, well, it
was HOT!
Source: Retrieved on May 14th 2011 from />Task 2:
Find these words and phrases in the text above and try to work out what they mean from the context.
Then check your ideas by matching them with their definitions.
1.

Get over

A.

to praise someone too much and give them a lot of
attention

2.

Yank somebody/ something away

B.

to pull somebody/ something forcefully with a quick

movement

3.

Fawn over

C.

4.

laidback

D. to understand

relaxed

Task 3:
You are going to read an extract retrieved from a weblog – Becoming Unbound. Four paragraphs have been
removed from the extract. Choose from paragraphs 1-6 the one which fits each gap (A-D).There is one extra
paragraph which you do not need to use.

CULTURE SHOCK: THE STORY OF A FRENCH EXCHANGE STUDENT
During the current semester, spring 1998, I have been
studying at The College of New Jersey on exchange from
France, where I live as an international student. Though I
am a citizen of the western African country of Cameroon,
I spent the majority of my life in the Central African
Republic where I completed my elementary through high
school education.


1
Classes in France are organized the same way they are
here in the U.S., in a semester system. The only
difference is that students can graduate after three
years instead of four. I was about to graduate when I
resolved to spend some time in America. I decided to
learn more about English-speaking culture before I move
ahead for my master's degree in Translation from English
to French.

2

Page 4

First of all, I have found that in terms of studies, there is
much more work here than in France. I had never faced
such an amount of work during the three years I had
spent at my university. I had even studied American
literature, but did not have as many books to read as I do
now.

3
I guess the difference between the French educational
system and the American system is that in France, the
courses cover a particular subject in depth, whereas here
the classes embrace a large range of topics, but more
superficially. However, the interesting point is how the
classes are more alive here than in France because the
American students are more apt to speak and to express
their opinions clearly on a subject.

The classes here are also smaller, which could make them
more interactive. But they aren't because most students
do not try to study together. This would allow those who

4


understand quickly to help those who do not, but instead
each student works alone.

care a lot for their students, especially for me since they
know that it sometimes can be difficult for me to
understand everything. I really appreciate their attitude
because it has helped me a lot.

What I find fantastic is how the professors are more
approachable here than in France. The students can easily
communicate with them during their office hours without
an appointment and through e-mail. The professors really

Source: Retrieved on May 16th 2011 from
/>/index.html

A. For

example,

my

Women


Writers

class

website. The fact is that they know how hard

requires at least six books, not counting the

it is for students to access the Internet.
D. I can remember my first days in one of my

excerpts. I have read many novels, and

classes where I was struggling because we

written many essays on them, but I think

had to work on computers. I felt nervous

what I have to do here is at least five times as

because I was not able to use the computer

much as what I did in France.

and listen to my professor teaching at the

B. When I first came here everything looked so


same

big: the streets, the buildings and the cars. I

time.

It

was

really

difficult

and

challenging for me, but with the professors

was not too surprised because America has

help, I can say that I feel more comfortable

always been presented to me as the country

now.

of dreams where everything is giant. I was
excited by the idea that America was no
longer just an imaginary country, but a real
country in which I had to live for a while. I

have already been here for a month-and-ahalf (at the time of this writing), and I have
noticed some major differences between the
countries.
C. The other thing that astonishes me is the
difference
students

in
here

terms
have

of

technology.

easier

access

The
to

computers, allowing them to go to websites
for research. In France, some people have
computers at home, but the majority does not
have access to computers at all. At my
university, there are two or three computer
laboratories, but they do not meet the needs

of around 6,000 students. I have never even
heard a professor mention an address for a

Page 5

E.

Eight years ago, I moved to France to study
English at the Universite de Saint-Denis (Paris
VIII). I decided to come to the United States a
year ago when I realized that in order to
further my English studies, I needed to live in
an English-speaking country.


Key:
Task 1:
1.B

6.B

11.F

2.A

7.D

12.F

3.C/E


8.F

13.D

4.C/E

9.E

14.A

5.C

10.D

Task 2:
1–D

2–B

3–A

4–C

2–B

3–A

4–C


Task 3:
1–E

Page 6