"You are going to the United States to live? How wonderful! You are really lucky."
     Perhaps your family and friends said similar things to you when you left home. But does it true
all the time? Is your life in the new country always wonderful and exciting?
     Specialists say that it isn't easy to get used to life in a new culture. "Culture shock" is the term
specialists use when talking about the feelings that people have in a new environment. "There are
three stages of culture shock, "say the specialists. In the first stage, the newcomers like their new
environment. Then, when the fresh experience dies, they begin to hate the city, the country, the
people, and everything else. In the last stage, the newcomers begin to adjust to their surroundings
and, as a result enjoy their life more.
     There are some obvious factors m culture shock. The weather may be unpleasant. The customs
may be different. The public service systems the telephone, post office, or transporta- tion maybe
difficult to work out. The simplest things seem to be big problems. The language may be difficult.
     Who feels culture shock? Everyone does in this way or that. But culture shock surprises most
people. Very often the people having the worst culture shock are those who never had any difficulties
in their home countries and were successful in their community. Coming to a new country, these
people find they do not have the same established positions. They find themselves without a role,
almost without an identity.
     They have to build a new self-image.
     Culture shock gives rise to a feeling of disorientation (迷惘). This feeling may be homesickness.
When homesick, people feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from
the strange environment, and create and escape inside their room for a sense of security. This escape
does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to make the person
familiar with the culture. Getting to know the new environment and gaining experience are the long
term solutions to the problem of culture shock.