Living, Working, or Studying in a Different Culture

http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~culture/sussman.htm 

This article is taken out of an online textbook and concerns culture and psychological implications of living, working, or studying in another culture.  The article goes through the steps of the "sojourner cycle" that goes from first immersion into another culture through returning home to the native culture.  It was a really fascinating read, and brought up a lot of thought-provoking ideas.

The article raises the important issue of how people are deeply rooted in culture without even being aware of it.  This process is called "enculturation" and is the formation of our thoughst and behavior to be similar to those in our culture.  The article explained how many people don't realize the extent of their enculturation until they experience being in a different culture.  When in another culture, one can examine his or her own thoughts and behaviors based on differences or similarities that arise from experiencing the non-native culture.  I found this point particularly interesting because so many people never get or take the opportunity to experience anything different than the culture they were raised in. 

There are so many benefits to being able to more objectively see how your culture has affected who you are.  Enculturation has a natural way of making people believe that their way of thinking or behaving is "right" because that is what they have always known.  Experiencing something different is definitely strange and may feel "wrong" but I think having one's eyes opened to alternative ways of living is important.

Although there are many benefits to experiencing another culture, some of the potential problems are worth noting.  When someone goes to another culture, their sense of identity must be redefined and will probably change at least a little.  This is important to recognize especially when the traveler returns to his or her home culture, as he or she may have trouble re-adjusting to native culture.  Traveling to a different culture can also be a negative experience if the culture is very different from the native culture.  If the native culture has strict ways of doing things or strict beliefs, seeing another culture live in a way that is contradictory to that can be uncomfortable and ego-shattering.  The article goes into more detail on this...you should read it.

This article brought up several motivation questions in my mind:

What motivates some people to constantly seek out new experiences and new cultures, while others are highly motivated to remain in a "bubble" of like-mindedness and similar behavior?

I think thrill-seeking/adventure-seeking is a particular motivation that would cause some people to seek out new cultural experiences.  Motivators for willing choosing to avoid new cultural experiences could be preservation of the ego/self identity, or simply the potential discomfort and fear that could come along with experiencing a new culture.