Human beings are social beings made up of cultural practices and values. Culture is diverse, broad, and unique to different people. People from different cultures act and think differently; therefore, it might be difficult for a sojourner to comprehend and understand ways of living and doing things in a foreign region (Sussman, 2002. Based on my perspective, the most significant challenge I would encounter in adapting to a new culture is learning new verbal and non-verbal communication that fits the foreign cultural context. Every culture is attributed to specific verbal and non-verbal factors that may differ from another culture (Wang, 2011). Hence one has to relearn these concepts and understand the meanings in a particular cultural context.
To overcome the challenge of learning verbal and non-verbal factors in a foreign culture, I would exhibit friendlessness and flexibility to learn new things. Culture is never inmate; it is learned through communication (Wang, 2011). Therefore, I would devote myself to learning and understanding the different verbal and non-verbal communication concepts used in the foreign cultural context. Communicating and interacting with other people from the foreign culture will enable me to understand the verbal and non-verbal concepts easily; therefore, I would exhibit a friendliness behavior to welcome more foreign people in my life. Additionally, I would also exhibit flexibility behavior. Understanding that I am in a different region with a different culture will enable me to be open-minded to learning new things instead of being rigid and holding on to my native culture.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Learning and adapting to a new culture should not be viewed as a distressing and uncomfortable encounter to the extent that people will aim to avoid cross-cultural experiences. In my perspective, I believe that encountering a cross-cultural experience will contribute significantly to my personal growth in the aspect that my cultural sensitivity will increase. The cross-cultural experience opens an individual mind to interpret the world in a new way (Sussman, 2002). Therefore, in my personal growth, I will be able to redefine life and the world in a new way and, subsequently, lead to a new definition of my identity as a human being. The cross-cultural experience will also enable me to understand why people think and act differently; consequently, I will appreciate the diverse culture and develop the ability to interact easily with people from different cultures.
References
Sussman, N. (Aug. 2002). Sojourners to another country: The psychological roller-coaster of cultural transitions. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 1(1). CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0
Wang, J., (Nov. 2011). Communication and cultural competence: The acquisition of cultural knowledge and behavior. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 7(1). CC-BY-NC-ND 3.
