Career

      Many dream of living overseas, but not everyone is brave enough to try it. It can be exciting, fun, scary or hard - sometimes all at the same time！

Alice, David, Bryan, Violet were classmates in university. After graduated from the department of Business Administration at Fu Jen University, they keep in touch with each other by telephone, e-mail, and MSN. They haven’t seen each other since they graduated. Alice has just got a master’s degree in America. She is planning on finding job in Taiwan. David will emigrate from Taiwan to America. It’s just what he expects. Bryan’s family moved to America during the emigration boom in 1990s. But Bryan can’t adapt to work in America so he returns to Taiwan. Violet works in an international company. She has many opportunities to go abroad on business. Now they go to a coffee shop in their rare leisure time.

Alice： David, are you emigrating to America？

David：Yeah, I will emigrate to America. I am full of expectation. Everything is
 new and exciting.

Bryan：I think quite differently. Living in a foreign country can be difficult. You
  have to survive culture shock.

Violet：That’s right. You should find out how to survive.

David：Really？How do you say that？

Violet：I’ve been to many countries. I notice that everyone who moves to another
  culture goes through culture shock. Most people experience it in five
  stages. First, there’s the honeymoon stage, followed by crisis, recovery
  and adjustment. And finally, when they return to their home culture,
  there’s re-entry shock!

David：It sounds like a lot to deal with？

Bryan：It can be, but knowing what to expect and how to cope with can help.

David：Oh, but I still don’t understand the difference between each stage.

Alice： Well, let me tell you about honeymoon stage. In this stage, you are
  excited about living in a different place, and everything seems to be
  extraordinary. You love everything, and everybody seems to be so nice to
  us. Also, the entertainment of life in a new culture seems as though it will
  never end.

Bryan：Then, when the novelty wears off, you will probably enter the crisis stage.
 You begin to notice that not everything is as good as you had originally
 thought it was.

David：You mean I will hate the city, the country, the people, the apartment, and
 everything else in the new culture in the crisis stage.

Bryan：Yap! People in this stage often feel discouraged, incompetent and
           frustrated.

David： And then？

Violet：In the recovery stage, you’ll finally begin making sense of the new culture.
 It starts to become familiar. Time is the secret for getting through the
 difficulties of life in America. And in the adjustment stage, you’ll realize
 the new culture has both good and bad elements. You’ll start to feel like
 you belonging to it. Some foreigners, unfortunately, never reach this
 stage.

David： What holds them back？

Alice：  Some of my Chinese classmates made friends only with Chinese, spoke
  only Chinese, and did things the Chinese way. They stayed in a micro-
  China rather than in America.

Violet：Spending time with local people can be challenging. But good language
  skills and culture understanding will be your rewards.

Bryan：Some people -myself included- find readjusting to their home culture
 harder than it was to adjust to the foreign culture！

Alice： Things at home have changed, and you have changed. You may feel
   strangely out of place in your own native culture.

Violet：The key to surviving re-entry shock is time. Spend time with others who
  have studied abroad. They’ll be able to give you the understanding you
  looking for.

David：Culture shock can be difficult and challenging. I will take your advice to survive culture shock.

Bryan：That’s O.K. But don’t let that stop you from living overseas. The personal
 growth you experience will be worth it！

David：Thanks for your reminding. Can you give me any tips for surviving？

Violet：Talk to other international students and foreigners, both before you go and
 once you get there.  They’ll be great sources of advice.

Bryan：Take breaks and vacations in moderation. Do things you enjoy.

Alice： Have an open mind. No matter how much you learn before you go, the new
  country will be different from how you imagine it.

Violet：Read！Find out everything you can about the foreign culture and about
 dealing with culture shock. There’s plenty of information on the Internet.

Bryan：When you return home, make sure others benefit from your experience.
  Reach out to international students and foreigners. Share your
  experiences with anyone interested in listening.

Alice： Were we to tell you all the tips for surviving, one week would not be
           enough.

David：Woo, I deeply appreciate your kindness. But I’m afraid that I may fail.
 What should I do, if I fail？

Violet：You have to try building a new self-image.

Bryan：The escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but
 it does nothing to familiarize the person more with the culture.

Alice： Familiarity and experience are the long-term solutions to the problem of culture shock.

David：Well, I see. I have prepared my mind already. I hope to survive culture
 shock.

Violet：If it were so, how happy we would be！

David：Besides of those problems, what else should I take note of?

Alice： In the first year of my life in the U.S., I usually didn’t understand what
  Americans want to express, so I always misunderstand their meanings. I 
  think that you should learn to know meanings of their gesture, because it’s
  very different from Taiwanese or other people speak Chinese.

Bryan：Yes. I agree with Alice’ opinion. It’s a serious problem for a newcomer.
 When I lived in America, I had the same problem as Alice’. Five years ago,
 I moved from America back to Taiwan because I couldn’t adjust to
 American culture.

David：It sounds terrible. Then, what can I do? 

Alice： As children start learning to talk, they first learn spoken language.
  However, they also learn how to talk without words. So moving to another
  country when you’re a baby is the best way. 

David：Are you kidding? I am not a baby. It’s not funny. Do you have any other
 methods, Violet and Bryan?

Violet：Hmm…In fact, I don’t think so. Try to understand their culture, and you can
 know meanings conveyed by their body language. For example, before
 traveling to a country, I would read a lot of books about the country.
 Reading helps me understand customs of the country, and teaches me
 some useful body language to avoid making misunderstanding. It makes
 my journey happier. So, you can try to learn everything about America by
 reading.

David：That’s a good idea. But you can tell me what you have known about body
 language. Hmm…I know the same gestures or movements might have
 different meanings in different cultures. Can you give me some examples?

Bryan：I know one, although I couldn’t adjust myself to my new life in America.
 For instance, Americans often use thumb and forefinger touching to form a
 circle to indicate “O.K.”. The same gesture means “money” to Japanese,
 “zero” to French, but it is an obscene gesture in Latin America.

Alice： If people want to indicate the number ”six”, in Chinese culture, people use
 just one hand, holding up the thumb and little finger; and in English-
 speaking countries, people have to use two hands, five fingers on one and
 the thumb or index finger of the other.

Violet：I had traveled to many places. There are some interesting body languages.
 People usually nod their head up and down to mean yes in most countries,
 but among Eskimos, it mean no.

David：Oh! It’s very special. I haven’t ever heard about that. I think I know little.
 I don’t have enough common sense. I should learn more about body
 language.

Bryan：Yes. Without them, perhaps we would hardly communicate at all.
 Especially, we have a lot of chances to meet people from another culture
 when we live in global village. I had been to Japan and France for
 business. In Japan, when parting from a friend, it is customary to give a
 bow, whereas in France, it is common to kiss the person on both cheeks.

David：Oh! I’m so happy. Finally, I hear one thing I have known.

Violet：There is another thing maybe you haven’t heard. Speakers of English say,  “this tall” by holding a hand out, and palm down. This gesture is okay in
 Latin America if you are talking about an animal. If Latin Americans are
 talking about a person, they hold their hand out too - but with its edge to
 the ground.

Alice： I have heard that. To Latin Americans, an Englishman who says “My
 daughter is this tall” and makes a gesture to show the height of a “cow” is
 very funny.

David：It sounds so interesting. Hmm… It’s may not be too serious a problem,
 because most body languages seem to be identical worldwide. Some are
 inherent, such as crying when we feel sad, and smiling when we feel
 happy. We don’t have to learn them. So I think I shouldn’t worry too much.
 After all smiling is the best language.

Bryan：Yeah, you are right. Everyone knows smiling. Don’t worry anymore. You will
 adjust your new life very well. Good luck！

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By 傅如禪, 林育詳, 葉又慈, 謝淳崴