[originaltext]M: Great to see you back from Canada. What impressed you most abo

M: Great to see you back from Canada. What impressed you most about Canadian culture?
W: It’s not the Canadian culture but the culture shock that was unbearable.
M: What do you mean by culture shock?
W: Culture shock is caused by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social communication.
M: Being more specific, what is that?
W: When an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar signs are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water. A series of props have been knocked out from under him, followed by a feeling of frustration and anxiety.
M: What are people’s reactions?
W: People react to the frustration in much the same way. They reject the environment, which causes the discomfort. The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous importance. All the difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered. It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality. That’s why I’m back.
M: It’s like an illness.
W: Yes.
M: Any other symptoms?
W: Excessive concern over drinking water, food and bedding; fear of physical contact with others, the absent-minded stare; a feeling of helplessness and a desire for dependence on long-term residents of one’s own nationality; fits of anger over minor frustrations; and finally, that terrible longing to be back at home.
M: What is the reason for all this?
W: This evidently grows out of the real difficulties, which the visitor experiences in the process of adjustment. There are house troubles, transportation troubles and shopping troubles.
M: I bet everyone comes across some difficulty.
W: If people succeed in getting some knowledge of the language and begin to get around by themselves, they are beginning to open the way into the new cultural environment.
M: Have you got it?
W: Hard to say.
M: Ha!