several weeks of preparation you are ready to board a flight to Beijing, but the night
before leaving, you receive an email from your brother saying he will be unable to
meet you at the airport. Instead, he asks that you meet at a hotel and provides the
following directions:
After arriving, take the Airport Express to Dongzhimen Station. Walk east on Dongzhimen
Outer Street. Turn right on Chiuxiu Road. The hotel will be on the right side a few blocks after
turning. You can’t miss it. I’ll be in the lobby.
Sounds easy enough, and the Google map you print out looks quite simple.
On arrival at the airport English language signs guide you through immigration and
customs stations, to the baggage claim area, and then to the Airport Express station.
It is only then that you discover that your U.S. currency is not accepted, requiring a
trip back into the terminal to find an ATM, where it takes a minute to locate the
button that changes the Chinese language screen to English. After purchasing a ticket
and taking a twenty-minute ride, you arrive at the underground Dongzhimen Station
and make your way up to the street. The first task is to find Dongzhimen Outer Street
and walk in an easterly direction. This is when you discover that reality is quite dif-
ferent from what the map depicts. You are confronted with tall buildings, speeding
cars, bicycles, pedicabs, large bustling crowds, few street markers, and only limited
English signs. After considerable effort you make your way to the hotel, only to find
that your brother has left a note saying,Called away to Shanghai for a meeting, be back
in two days. Enjoy exploring Beijing.
Exhausted from the thirteen-plus-hour flight, you check into the room reserved by
your brother and set out to find something to eat. The hotel’s restaurant is closed, but
the desk clerk directs you toward a local place close by. But on arrival, you discover
people sitting around small, low tables on the sidewalk, talking loudly, and ordering
from a menu in Chinese hanging on a wall. Unable to communicate with the waiter,
you give up and stop at a convenience store, pick up some type of crackers and a
soda, and retreat to your hotel room. The next morning you set out to explore the
city of over 11 million people. Very quickly you discover that finding your way can
be a challenge, requiring much longer than expected, and that trying to make yourself
understood to non-English speakers is very difficult. After spending the morning
exploring a shopping center where you must deal with large, loud, jostling crowds,
you feel mentally and physically exhausted and return to your room to rest. That is
when you decide to just stay in the hotel watching the international channel on tele-
vision until your brother returns.
You have just experienced culture shock!
Reactions associated with culture shock can vary widely among individuals and
take the form of any or all of three components—affective, behavioral, and cogni-
tive.^2 An individual confronting the impacts associated with culture shock can expe-
rience a sense of disorientation, feelings of rejection, homesickness, withdrawal,
irritation, physical and mental fatigue, and even depression in severe cases. However,
culture shock will not affect everyone to the same degree. People who have consider-
able experience living in diverse social settings will usually adapt much more quickly
than someone who has little experience encountering other cultures. Our discussion
on the impact of culture shock is not intended to make you apprehensive about ven-
turing into another culture. Rather, the intent is to help you be prepared should you
experience some of these reactions.382 CHAPTER 11• The Challenges of Intercultural Communication: Managing Differences
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