Personal Narratives of Culture Shock

An Indian social psychologist, fairly well exposed to the Western
world owing to her professional visits, academic interest in the field
of culture, and willingness to observe and learn about people and
societies as an avid traveler, narrates her experiences of culture shock.
Despite being aware that cultural distance between the home society
and the host society is expected and that beliefs, preferences, and
practices of people from the East and the West may not be analogous,
and irrespective of her intention to be an observant learner, the author
submits that some of her experiences gave her culture shock. Her
narratives are mainly from European countries but with one exception
of the USA. On some occasions, the reason for culture shock lay in the
positive character and goodness of what she witnessed. Whether she
felt shaken, saddened, and insecure or was full of awe and admiration
for the host society, the reasons were unfamiliarity, inimitability, and
the scale of cultural distance. At least at one instance, the shock was due
to her powerless position vis-a-vis that of the host culture. The culture
shock narratives are discussed from the representational perspective of
an Indian citizen.