Response 2

Ralph Papillon

Chapter 3 – Response Paper 2

Visiting another country can be a very interesting experience. Something that can happen when visiting a foreign country or being surrounded around a different culture from your own is the experience of culture shock. Culture shock is the disorientation one can feel from being around an unfamiliar culture. During the summer before this semester I visited relatives in Quebec, Canada. Although a lot of aspects of culture there were similar to my life here in New Jersey, some aspects of it were confusing me and I was in culturally shocked.

One aspect of culture in Canada that was part of the culture shock for me was the attitude towards recycling. Everywhere I went in Canada, disposal containers were not limited to just garbage like you would find in most stores, restaurants and facilities in the United States, there would also be containers for plastic and aluminum products. During one trip to a grocery store I noticed a man carrying several bottles with him and putting them inside a machine. I was confused and looked closer and could see it was a machine for recycling that gave back money in return for recycling the bottles. Seeing this was such a surprise to me. Another big way I learned about Canadians recycling was milk in a bag. The plastic bag they used to contain milk uses less plastic compared to regular milk jugs, which is better for the environment. Since Canadians are “greener” than American I could say that is a folkway for them to care so much about recycling, meaning that it is a norm which is considered appropriate behavior but it can not be punished if it isn’t followed.

A formal norm in Quebec, Montreal that was part of my culture shock was a specific law. When arriving to the island of Quebec via bridge, there are signs that warn you, no turns on red lights are allowed. Fortunately I was not driving at all when I was there and would not have to worry about this law. If I was it would be very hard to adjust to this traffic law and I might of just found myself getting a ticket since I am so used to turning on red here in New Jersey, unless a sign says not to.

All over America obesity is a huge issue. Obese people can be found everywhere in America. In the province of Quebec there is no problem with being overweight, however. It was shocking to see very few people who were obese on my visit. The main reason for this is that Canadians generally have a much healthiest diet than their American counterparts.

Fortunately for me nonverbal communication was able to lessen some of the culture shock on my trip. One of my cousins only knows how to speak French and I only know how to speak English. Even though I could barely grasp the meaning of most of the words he would be saying to me, a lot of times gestures and emotional expressions on his face could help me understand him despite the language barrier between us.

Personally for me ethnocentrism did not play a big role in my culture shock experience in Canada. I do not consider myself to be a very ethnocentric person, with regard to the life I have lived in the United States. Although I did find some aspects of Canadian culture strange, some parts of it I actually found better. The mindset that I had when observing these new aspects of society was the exact opposite of using sociological imagination. Instead of viewing the society as an outsider (American), which would cause me to have a personal bias (ethnocentrism), I tried my best to simply understand the new aspects of society.