An Experience of Culture Shock - Yusuke

I’d like to talk about my experiences with culture shock.

Since I came to New Zealand, I experienced a variety of cultural differences between Japan and New Zealand in terms of the behavior, the clothing and the food. Out of these differences, one of the most astonishing facts for me is that when someone sneezes, others around him say “bless you”. I was really surprised to know that because there is no culture like it in Japan. It may seem like a trifle, but I had no idea how to answer, so I was really confused. To overcome this trouble, I observed how my host parents answered. Once I listened to them, they said “Thank you” in response to this statement, so the problem was solved.

The other astonishing fact is that the bus doesn’t necessarily come on time. I learned that punctuality is quite different depending on the country. Because of this, I thought that it’s crucial to take this into account in case it doesn’t come on time. The only solution to this problem is to act beforehand as soon as possible because it’s impossible to predict whether the bus will come on time or not. I feel it’s quite inconvenient because the bus doesn’t come so often especially on the weekends. Even if we miss the bus, we will be supposed to wait for a long time. It must be troublesome.

Regarding these, I experienced a lot of things which are related to cultural differences. I suppose we should cherish both of these values and it’s essential to understand each other.