From not being able to wrap my mind around taking an international flight to the East to living in Asia for over two months, my semester in China has been life-changing. Before arriving in China, I stayed with a family in India for one week. Although I had previously lived abroad, my first couple of days in India were marked by culture shock. Everything that surrounded me seemed foreign and very far from home. Eventually, I adjusted to India before departing for China. While China is another Asian country, I faced even more culture shock upon arriving in China. Yet, in the midst of culture shock and other challenges, my time in China has been filled with needed lessons, newfound friendships, cultural celebrations and eye-opening travel.
Culture shock involves an individual facing a new environment that is different from their own. While I had felt this to various degrees in the past, the culture shock I felt upon arriving in China was unlike anything I had experienced before. I thought I knew a decent amount of Chinese, but quickly learned that my pronunciation of the Chinese tones was poor. Along with the language barrier, the societal ideals that involve surveillance were hard for me to understand and accept.
