Culture shock is the loss of emotional balance, disorientation, or confusion that a person feels when moving from a familiar environment to an unfamiliar one. (28) __________. Individual personality, previous cross-cultural experience, and language proficiency all affect a person's ability to interact socially in the new culture. The basic cause of culture shock is the abrupt loss of all that is familiar, (29) __________.
When an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of those familiar signs and hints are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water. No matter how broad-minded or good-willed he may be, a series of properties have been knocked from under him. (30) __________. People react to the frustration in much the same way. First, they reject the environment that causes the discomfort: "The ways of the host country are bad because they make us feel bad."
Another aspect of culture shock is regression. (31) __________, and everything becomes irrationally glorified. All difficulties and problems are forgotten, and only the good things back home are remembered. It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality.
Common symptoms of culture shock include the following extremes. These are excessive concerns, over delays and other minor frustrations: fear of being cheated, robbed or injured; (32) __________; and a great longing to go home. Underlying all these is the uncomfortable feeling of not really belonging, of being an outsider.