Uganda Culture Research Paper

Ugandan Culture Immersion and Culture Shock

While I never visited Uganda, I feel as though I was immersed in the culture, since I listened to many of the stories from my parents who travelled to Uganda and from the two girls who were born in the country. As my family prepared to welcome these two girls to the United States, our family life began to revolve around learning about this unique culture and the language, Luganda, that the two girls would know. When the girls came to the United States, I asked them several questions about what life in Uganda was like, and they told me about their different foods, customs, and beliefs, and my family tried to incorporate some of these into our lives. Talking with these girls about their culture helped

During this time period, my family was excited to learn what we could about the girls’ unique culture and customs. When I experienced the culture shock stage, I began to realize elements of the Ugandan culture that were significantly different than my culture, and I began to take offense to some of these aspects. For example, in Uganda, people do not tend to use manners; rather, they simply demand things of others. Because of this, the girls came across extremely commanding at times, as they attempted to order us to do things for them. Another aspect that was difficult for me to adjust to and caused me stress was that the Ugandan culture does not emphasize the importance of being honest. The lying and deceitfulness significantly impacted me, since my family emphasized honesty and integrity. While the culture shock period was extremely stressful, I did experience the adjustment stage, which is the stage in which people try to form intercultural relationships and begin to appreciate the host culture (Neuliep, 2014). After learning more about the positive aspects of the Ugandan culture, such as the emphasis on spirituality and a slower-paced life, I began to appreciate their culture just as much as my own, and I even tried to incorporate aspects of their culture into my daily

Learning how to replace the common feelings, emotions, and behaviors, and undertaking different approaches to a situation regarding conflict are two methods of coping I wish I would have known when I was experiencing culture shock, as this would have prevented many of the negative emotions I felt in this situation (Neuliep, 2014). Furthermore, taking a more open-minded approach to different customs and mannerisms would further help delay judgment and rejection to cultural elements I may find offensive or simply different than mine (Neuliep, 2014). This open-mindedness could better assist me in forming healthy relationships with people from foreign cultures, and increase my admiration of the