Section II addresses issues that are likely to be first encountered or most challenging during one’s initial six months in China, relative to the particular stage of culture shock one happens to be experiencing at the time. This section consists of thirteen units: 7) Brief discussion of culture shock; 8) Language barrier; 9) Guanxi and Mianzi; 10) Currency and banking; 11) Social etiquette; 12) Hygiene; 13) Transportation; 14) Technology; 15) Shopping; 16) Eating, drinking and smoking; 17) Healthcare; 18) Personal care, and finally; 19) Typical adjustment problems at work.
A great deal has been written about the nature of the culture shock experienced, to varying degrees, by all foreigners in China. Essentially, just about everything is different: currency, food, available merchandise, mores and ethics, social customs and traditions, personal hygiene, medical care and family life, not to mention the physical and natural environment, to name but the major ones. One's ability to adjust to life in China depends greatly on how resilient one's character is as well as how determined one is to make the myriad of psychological, emotional and physical adjustments required. Almost anyone can tolerate most anything for a limited period of time: Therefore, the ones who must make the greatest personal, emotional and mental adjustments required to live in China, with relative success, are the ones who—for one reason or another—have made a long-term commitment to remaining here for the "long haul."
Psychologists have identified four distinct, and often overlapping, stages that characterize the phenomenology of those who move to and remain in a different culture: 1) Excitement; 2) Withdrawal; 3) Adjustment, and; 4) Enthusiasm.
When you first arrive in China, you will very likely experience an exhilarating sense of excitement and adventure. You will think to yourself "I can't believe I'm finally in China," and you will be fascinated and overwhelmingly impressed by all the "exotic" differences in culture you will encounter. This stage is often referred to as the "honeymoon" period.
Usually, within a month or so, that sense of excitement will eventually give way to new and unpleasant feelings of frustration and anger as you continue to have unfavorable encounters that strike you as strange, offensive, and unacceptable. These reactions, for most Westerners, are typically centered around stark differences in language, public hygiene, traffic safety, the type and quality of the food, the availability of creature comforts, the manner in which agreements and contracts are regarded and, related, the feeling that one is constantly being cheated or lied to (see unit on Mianzi and Guanxi). You will find that you severely dislike the culture, and will experience intermittent feelings of anxiety and depression characterized by a demonstration of animosity, a short-temper, a strong sense of "being stuck," and a frequent tendency to criticize and mock the people and their culture. Depending on the individual, this stage can last for up to three to six months, or it may persist considerably longer for those who lack the capacity and faculties to properly adjust (and those are the ones who often return home, usually before the end of their contracts).
For those who are relatively well-adjusted to begin with, stage 2 will eventually segue into an adjustment period during which time the individual begins to feel more settled-in and confident as life becomes considerably more routine and predictable, which often tends to coincide with the acquisition of some Chinese language skills and the ability to minimally communicate around basic needs without assistance. The individual will feel far less isolated, and will regain his or her sense of humor. I still remember the enormous sense of satisfaction and comfort I derived the very first time I was able to verbally instruct the taxi driver where I wanted to be taken in Chinese. This stage of adjustment seems to last from several months for most, to up to two years for some.
After a period of time of living in the country, one begins to realize that he or she now feels "at home" in China. What used to drive you crazy in the beginning now seems mundane or insignificant (or will simply be unattended to), and you will actually start identifying several characteristics or features of the culture that you genuinely prefer to your own. In addition, you will notice that you have gradually incorporated (assimilated) several traits or behaviors from the new culture, such that if you were to return to your native country, you would in fact experience something of a reverse culture shock.
The following eleven units are intended to mentally prepare prospective foreign teachers for the various facets of life in China they will encounter that often produce the greatest degree of anxiety, depression and anger after the honeymoon period (stage 1) has waned.
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