Culture Shock in The American Expatriate Community Essay -- Social Iss

Dealing with Culture Shock in American Expatriate Community The American expatriate community is the population of all Americans that are temporarily or permanently living outside the borders of the United States. These overseas-Americans, numbering over 6.32 million strong (Association for American Residents Overseas), confront many issues when they leave their homeland and transition to a new life in a foreign country. These issues can include dealing with the local language or trying to unravel the esoteric tax laws overseas workers must follow. One of the major issues that American expatriates (or â€Å"expats†) confront is the issue of culture shock (Top Eight). Culture shock, in general, is the stress a person may feel experiencing an unfamiliar way of life after immigration, visiting a new country, or a move between social environments (Macionis and Gerber 54). Culture shock results from differences in culture like language or values toward personal space or cleanliness. Cultural differences that cause culture shock have been classified by Annelies E. M. Van Vianen, Irene E. De Pater, Amy L. Kristof-Brown and Erin C. Johnson in their article â€Å"Fitting In: Surface- and Deep-Level Cultural Differences and Expatriates' Adjustment" as being either â€Å"surface-level† differences or â€Å"deep-level† differences (700). Surface-level differences are those differences that are readily apparent to new expats. These would be things like food, housing conditions, climate and other easily observable aspects that a tourist would notice on vacation. Other aspects of a culture, like beliefs and values (such as openness to change and attitudes toward self-advancement), are classified as deep-level differences. An expat will only recognize de... ...ra. â€Å"A Needs-Driven Approach to Expatriate Adjustment and Career Development: A Multiple Mentoring Perspective† Journal of International Business Studies , Vol. 36, No. 5 (Sep., 2005), pp. 519-538, JSTORS. Web. 4 Apr. 2012 Schilling, Maria.†Avoid Expat Culture Shock† HR Magazine, July 1993, FindArticles.com. Web. 12 Apr, 2012. "Shaking Hands Around the World." Welcome to Wisc-Online.com. Wisc-Online. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. . "The Top Eight Expat Concerns According to HSBC." Expat Info Desk. ExpatInfoDesk International Limited, 4 May 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. Weeks, Kelly P., Mathew Weeks, and Katherine Willis-Muller. "The Adjustment of Expatriate Teenagers." Personnel Review 39.1 (2010): 24-43. Emerald Insight. Emerald Insight. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. .

Life Lessons Essay

A moment that will forever change my life happened two years ago during my sophomore year, I will never forget it, but I am also thankful that it happened because I have learned from my mistake and it has taught me a few valuable life lessons. Two years ago, I moved up to Eugene to live with my aunt and uncle for the year to experience a new life setting. I was thrilled to experience new things, meet new people, and learn new ways of living in a big city. It was the first day of school at Willamette High school, I was filled with excitement to be attending a new school and meet different people, I had a goal that day to make a great first impression to start my year off. When lunch time came, I was going to have lunch with my cousin and his friends to get a start on meeting people. We found out that our ride was making its way down the street already, my cousin Artees, said to me to run and jump into the car. Without fully thinking about this, I made the decision to go for it. Running to catch up to the car felt like forever, but I made it to the door that was open for me to jump in, I was able to get up inside the car and was almost fully in, I suddenly felt a tug on my backpack and started falling back out, not being able to catch myself, I fell out of the car landing underneath and have both legs ran over from the ankles down. I remember this happening very quickly and seeing nothing but the bright sun in my view. The pain I went through is indescribable, it felt as if you had your legs cut off and a burning sensation as if you were being burned. Read more:Â  Essay About Lessons Learned From Parents I wasn’t unconscious but felt as if I was in another world, everything was happening very slow and I could hear people screaming around me and Artees above me saying he was sorry and if I was doing okay. All the voices I was hearing sounded like a whisper and as if everything was a blur. It seemed like I was lying in the middle of the road for hours and fell into a little sleep, I remember opening my eyes to people circled around me looking down at me with my cousin holding me, then came paramedics breaking the crowd. I was quickly in put in a neck brace, and strapped to a board. I had my pants cut off while in the road to get to my legs, at the time I didn’t care at all how many people were watching me, but now it is weird to think how many hundreds of people saw me in my underwear. Quickly I was in the hospital was doctors all around me and my family devastated by my bed side. After many x-rays and CT scans, we discovered that I miraculously broke no bones, but fractured my ankles badly, crushed arteries and muscles, severe nerve damage and broke blood vessels that still two years later, have not grown back. I spent a week back in Bend to recover, which was a struggle all in itself. I was bed ridden for seven days and to shower or use the bathroom, I had to be carried everywhere. When I attempted to walk on my own, shooting pain would soar my entire body and my ankles would make a cracking noise. After a week, I felt well enough to try and go back to school. I wore ankle braces day and night, and used crutches. As I expected, I got many stares daily and had people whisper when I was around. I made it through with much support from my cousin. It has almost been three years now since my accident, and still I have pain in my ankles that have spread throughout my legs that I deal with daily. I am not able to stand for more than ten minutes and now have a disease called neuropathy that makes my entire leg either very cold or very hot, tingle, swell, and I am in sever pain daily. I also have nightmares and flashbacks about that day weekly, and have anxiety being in cars and walking on sidewalks. I have been told by my orthopedic doctor that I am going to live with this for the rest of my life, so I have learned to deal with this better. What I have learned from my experience is to always think things through even if you think if you do something, it is going to impress someone, the result can be bad, leave you with injuries, or even be fatal. I am thankful everyday that this didn’t turn out worse, and I am still here today.

Lord of the Flies Jack and Ralph Comparison - 1737 Words

â€Å"Jack made a rush and stabbed at Ralph’s chest with his spear. Ralph sensed the position of the weapon from the glimpse he caught of Jack’s arm and put the thrust aside with his own butt. Then he brought the end round and caught Jack a stinger across the ear. The were chest to chest, breathing fiercely, pushing and glaring.†(196). Two strong types of leadership can lead to devastating outcomes. This is shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Ralph and Jack have two very different types of leadership that are at different ends of the spectrum. The qualities of Ralph and Jack are different, Jack’s beliefs contrast those of Ralph, and the styles of leadership that Ralph and Jack use are as different as night and day. To begin, it takes†¦show more content†¦Jack exclaims, â€Å"But we want meat!†(55). Jack is saying this to Ralph because he wants him to help with the shelters but Jack only wants to hunt have meat then help out around the island. Finally, Ralph believes in rules. He believes that by having rules that it creates some sort of authority and civilization on the island. Jack believes in all fun and does not care about the rules. Ralph created the conch as a symbol of power. The conch controls who is able to talk and it can bring all of the boys together for an assembly. By making the conch the ultimate power on the island, Ralph is trying to replace the missing authority, rules, and adults. Ralph says, â€Å"The rules! You’re breaking the rules!†(99). Jack replies with, â€Å"Who cares?†(99). After Jack says this to all of the boys at one of the assemblies, he convinces all of the boys except Ralph, Simon, and Piggy to go down to the beach and play. By Jack doing the he shows that all Jack wants to do is be ignorant to the rules and have fun. In conclusion, the two different types of leaders have different beliefs on how to survive. Ralph believes in survival skills while Jack believes in hunting. Totalitarian dictator versus Democratic. These leadership types are extremely different. Jack is a totalitarian dictator versus Ralph who has a democratic style of leadership. To start off, Jack rules by the emotional responses of his followers: he rules by charisma and hysteria. As opposed to Ralph who rules by laws andShow MoreRelatedLord of the Flies Essay/ Character Comparison Ralph vs Jack2781 Words   |  12 PagesThe novel Lord of the Flies focuses on the conflict that exists between two competing impulses that Golding, suggests exist within all humans; these being the instinct to follow the rules, act in a peaceful manner and comply to moral commands compared to the instinct to act violently in order to gain control over others and to satisfy our own greed and personal desires. The conflict exists within the novel in several forms; law and order vs. anarchy, civilization vs. savagery and the basic termRead MoreLord of the Flies Nature of Man1726 Words   |  7 PagesLord of the Flies: The Nat ure of Man William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a gritty allegory of adolescence, innocence, and the unspoken side of human nature. Countless social issues are portrayed, however one of the most reoccurring is the nature of man. Throughout the novel there is an ever-present focus on the loss of innocence amongst the boys, shown by the deterioration of social skills and their retrogression into a barbaric form of society. Also portrayed is the juxtaposition of a cruelRead MoreA Comparison of Lord of the Flies to Sympathy for the Devil Essay1173 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿6 June 2012 Guess My Name: A Comparison of Lord of the Flies to Sympathy for the Devil The story The Lord of the Flies is a timeless piece of literature written by William Golding. Many who have read this story have been inspired in different ways, one of these groups being The Rolling Stones. In their song Sympathy for the Devil, there are striking similarities between the lyrics and the content of The Lord of the Flies. In one line of Sympathy for the Devil, the lyrics go like this, â€Å"I watchedRead MoreLord of The Flies Essay1673 Words   |  7 PagesLord of the Flies was published in 1954 by William Golding. Today Lord of the Flies is a well known literary criticism. Many schools require their students to read Lord of the Flies because of the literary criticisms in the book. In this paper three themes or literary criticisms are talked about: good vs. evil, symbolism of characters, and maturity of characters. Another topic in Goldings Lord of the Flies is the battle of good vs. evil. Everything seems to start out just fine on the island; theRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Shakespeare1287 Words   |  6 Pages(Et tu, Brute?) The allegorical story Lord of The Flies consists of many situations where the conflicts and betrayals between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are represented through two boys on the island, Jack and Ralph. In the beginning of the story, Jack and Ralph work together and have generally peaceful relations. However, as time goes on, tension on the island increases, eventually resulting in the boys becoming leaders of two separate tribes. Finally, Jack violates the previously agreed uponRead MoreAnalysis Of The Lord Of The Flies 889 Words   |  4 Pagesto be civil or savage. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, British schoolboys are marooned on an island. They voted Ralph to be the leader in an effort to remake the culture that they had left behind, accompani ed by the intelligent Piggy as counselor. But Jack wants to be the leader too, and he individually lures all of the boys away from civility to the brutal survivalism of hunters. The conch symbolizes power, respect, and social order. Within the Lord of the Flies, Golding provides a briefRead MoreAnalysis Of George Orwell s Lord Of The Flies 891 Words   |  4 Pagesthought rather than action (Lord of the Flies). As a result, Piggy s intellect benefits the group only through Ralph, as he serves as Ralph’s advisor. Simon is the outcast of the novel. He is quiet and isolated among the group. He is often misunderstood by the boys. However, he has a higher moral and spiritual awareness then the rest of the boys on the island; making him a symbol of faith also. He behaves kindly toward the younger children. He is the only one that helps Ralph to build the huts. SimonRead More Use of Allegory and Symbols in William Goldgings Lord of the Flies 1346 Words   |  6 PagesUse of Allegory and Symbols in William Goldgings Lord of the Flies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Goldings Lord of the Flies allegorically shows the good and evil that co-exists in every human being.   Each character and symbol renders this possible by what it represents.   Ralph and Jack allegorically represent opposing political forces: Jack as the dictator or fascist and Ralph as the prototype of a democratic leader.   The island represents the archetypal garden and the conch shell represents power.   GoldingRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding1206 Words   |  5 Pagesdrawn out, it lies dormant inside of us, civility having compressed it within, yet it still rears it’s ugly head when drastic situations arise. We see this primal characteristic of brutality slowly take hold of the boys on the island until the ‘Lord of the Flies’ has claimed it’s latest victims. Not only Simon and Piggy, but all the boys on the island. Throughout the novel, we see all the boys go from having fun and exhibiting civilized behavior to losing cont rol at the end. â€Å"You knew, didn’t you? I’mRead MoreWilliam Goldings Lord of the Flies and John Knowles A Separate Peace671 Words   |  3 Pagesdoppelganger is an alter ego of ones charisma. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, the characters Ralph/Jack and Gene/Finny represent doppelgangers, explaining how they complement each other and maintain supremacy. One significant pair of characters who separate is Ralph and Jack. Their dual natures cause differences among themselves due to various reasons. From a physical standpoint, Jack is described as â€Å"tall, thin, and bony: and his hair was red beneath