As a result of globalization, there has been an increasing number of people going abroad for work and study. The experience, or the personal disorientation a person may encounter when going to settle in a culturally different environment from his or her own is generally defined as culture shock, which has been widely acknowledged as an integral part of intercultural communication. In this paper, based on a valid story about culture shock, I would like to provide an analysis of the variety of concepts of intercultural communication.
The following story is about the experiences of cultural differences that Ausley Hamming, an English teacher who has worked in Vietnam for two years had to go through when she first came to Vietnam and how she gradually adapted to them. For the purpose of working and living here permanently, she learned about Vietnamese culture through books and the Internet before arriving in this country in the hope that she would not have to face up with too much confusion. Although with such preparation, the circumstances under
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During the honeymoon period, she encountered the very first cultural shock experience since the moment she arrived in Hanoi when the taxi she picked up failed to bring her to the hotel quickly due to traffic congestation. In the following days, she kept having to face up with many different difficulties in terms of Vietnamese traffic culture, Vietnamese food and the way Vietnamese people view foreigners. She struggled at first, but gradually managed to make herself an ingroup by following what local people do to overcome her problems as well as strengthen her mind. In the adjustment stage, which is also the final phase, Ausley was able to deal with those culture shock experiences without much effort. She also felt comfortable to share her story with other people and was eager to keep learning about Vietnamese