diagnostic essay

Valeria Viscarra 00628478
ENG110-5-Expository Writing
Diagnostic Essay
September 3, 2013
Dr. Mary Muchiri
Coexisting in a One Sided World Culture shock. Defined by Webster’s dictionary as the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. Though not always pleasant, experiencing culture shock opens the eyes of those who experience it. I know it opened mine. While I had traveled outside of my country countless times before, my moving here for college required me to change many of my ways and mind sets. At first I resisted change and was resolved to have everyone adapt to me rather than me to them. I quickly learned that is not the way to view things. Upon arriving at I decided that I would continue kissing people’s cheeks when greeting them and figured that they would eventually start doing so too. I was wrong. As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. My unwillingness to yield to this foreign culture led to many awkward kisses, judging stares, and weird looks. Although I did feel weird after countless failed “kissing” attempts, my failures taught me that when in a foreign country, respecting mannerisms and habits is crucial in order to adapt and function well in that society. Though restraining from kissing people’s cheeks is not the only culturally shocking habit I’ve had to beat, it is definitely one of the strongest. And while I toiled away my habits, I thought of how frustrated I got when foreigners came to my country, and we get many foreigners every day, and they resisted our culture, from dances and folklore to food and clothing. Their unwillingness to open their minds and learn that not because our ways are different they are wrong, always baffled me. It didn’t make sense to me why a person would go to a foreign country and be shocked by the foreign ways of the country. Now that I am in that position I understand. The reason why there is such a shock is not that there is an unwillingness to learn new ways; there is an unwillingness to let go of our own ways. Now, I am not saying that in order toies will help in adapting and communicating with other cultures. A few years back, are some of the most gracious hosts, our indisposition to accept differences has led many to view us as hostile, and rightly so. How can we effectively coexist with others if our differences are not valued and accepted? Even within Bolivia there are many different cultures and languages and I would be lying if I said that we have all always lived in peace. In my short lifetime, I’ve experienced fear of cession from the country, civil war, and uprisings just due to the fact that our differences cannot be settled. What these experiences have taught me is that we can’t let our differences tear us apart.
We need to be willing to accept, we don’t always have to change, but by accepting that there are different beliefs and customs and by acknowledging and validating them, we come together and see each other as humans rather than just races. We must have embracing attitudes towards the unknown and the new-- that is, with a discerning mind as well. Years ago, I realized that there are many different people and cultures in my country, and outside of it as well. With that realization, I decided that I would do my best in learning from and about those differences. Had it not been for that, I can’t say that I would be here at Taylor today given that the culture is so different. With an open mind and a willingness to learn the ways of different culture, I am sure that we can all function effectively among people with different cultural backgrounds.