Culture shock...? No I just made it up for the conversation!

Culture Shock

Culture shock is a mental state of isolation, confusion, seclusion, sadness, and loneliness.Don’t be afraid if you experience culture shock. These feelings are normal and expected when somebody moves in a totally different environment where everything is totally new.

People who experience culture shock seem to go through distinctive phases. The first phase, you will probably feel that you miss your family very much, you will start comparing your home country with the united States in terms of traditions, food, so forth. In the second phase, you may feel depressed and fear going out and meeting new people. You will start forming personal opinions about American people and American culture.

These opinions might be totally stereotypical and  out of context.The only way to get out of culture shock is to realize that you are here for a period of time and that you will need to make certain adjustments for survival, that it is ok to be different and that you are not an American and are not expected to act like one. 

(from a USA immigration lottery manual)

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