"Culture shock" occurs as a result of total
immersion in a new culture. It happens to "people who have been suddenly
transplanted abroad". Newcomers may be anxious because they do not speak the
language, know the customs, or understand people’s behavior in daily life. The
visitor finds that "yes" may not always mean "yes", that friendliness does not
necessarily mean friendship, or that statements that appear to be serious are
really intended as jokes. The foreigner may be unsure as to when to shake hands,
when to start conversations, or how to approach a stranger. The notion of
"culture shock" helps explain feelings of bewilderment and disorientation.
Language problems do not account for all the frustrations that people feel. When
one is deprived of everything that was once familiar, such as understanding a
transportation system, knowing how to register for university classes, or
knowing how to make friends, difficulties in coping with the new society may
arise. "...when an individual enters a strange culture, he or
she is like fish out of water." Newcomers feel at times that they do not belong
to and feel alienated from the native members of the culture. When this happens
visitors may want to reject everything about the new environment and may glorify
and exaggerate the positive aspects of their own culture. Conversely visitors
may scorn their native country by rejecting its values and instead choosing to
identify with (if only temporarily) the value of the new country. This may occur
as an attempt to over-identify with the new culture in order to be accepted by
the people in it. When the foreign visitor is immersed in new problems he finds hard to
cope with, he is most likely to feel ______.