Cross Cultural Transitions - Research Paper Example

 Introduction According to Huang (2001), the memoir by Le Ly Hayslip titled when heaven and earth changed places was written in 1989. Jay Wurts, a writer and editor based in LA wrote the book. According to Budra and Zeitlin (2004), the memoir focuses mainly on Le Ly Hayslip childhood experiences in Vietnam during the war, her relocation to the United States. It also highlights the period when she returned to Vietnam in 1986 after 16 years to visit friends and family members she had left behind. Hayslip visit to Vietnam was a reunion to the father of her first-born son, her siblings and mother. At that time the tensions from the just ended war was still being felt and her family became afraid of associating with her. In conclusion, Hayslip memoir ends with a supplication for the existing hostility between the Americans and Vietnamese to be brought to an end. Phung Thi Le Ly Hayslip was born in 1949. She grew up in a small village known as Ky La located in Vietnam (Huang, 2001). Le Ly Hayslip childhood and her early stage of adulthood is mainly characterized by war, patriotism and violence (Grice, 2006). As a teenager, Le Ly Hayslip linked up with Viet Cong and she became a revolutionary hero who was greatly celebrated. While being active on the role she had taken, she was captured by the republic of Vietnam soldiers. Hayslip was freed after a short while and on her release both the Viet Cong and the republican forces tortured and raped her mercilessly (Bow, 2001). All this brought her revolutionary career to a standstill. Feeling disgraced she could no longer face her country people and family. Le Ly Hayslip then fled to Da Nang, one of the largest cities in the central coast. She stayed in the new city for five years and was employed in various jobs both legitimate and illegitimate. On different occasions she was hired as a maid, a vendor in the black market, waitress, and she even involved herself in prostitution. While still there, she was involved in sexual encounters on different occasions with one of her employers (Barry, 1996). Le Ly Hayslip later realized that she was pregnant and at the age of fifteen, she gave birth to a baby boy. Le Ly got married to Ed Munro who was an American contractor at the age of nineteen. Ed Munro was thirty-four years older than Le Ly Hayslip. Out this marriage, Le Ly Hayslip bore a second son. Her main objective was to get an opportunity to move to America and she did a few years later. Her husband died after they had relocated to America and she remarried Dennis Hayslip in spite him being an alcoholic and abusive. Their marriage took place after Dennis Hayslip had assisted Le Ly’s sister to flee from Vietnam. However, after formalizing their union, their differences escalated and Hayslip filed for a divorce. Their marriage ended after the death of Dennis through carbon monoxide poisoning. Le Ly Hayslip then made up her mind to divert all her energy towards her career, to establish a restaurant and to supervise all the rental properties in her possession. After she had accumulated her assets, she made up her mind to support her own native land using the wealth she had acquired. She managed to set up medical clinics after establishing a foundation that was known as the east meets the west. In addition, Hayslip was determined to end the existing hatred and to heal wounds that had resulted from the war. The earlier war completely separated Hayslip whole family. One of her brothers lost touch with the family for 20 years after fleeing to Hanoi. Another brother lost his life in a land mine. Her father on the other hand, received great pressure from the Viet Cong. They wanted him to take the initiative to persuade her daughter Hayslip to become a saboteur. Hayslip father however, opted to commit suicide instead of yielding into the pressure. In trying to understand, the real meaning of culture shock our reference mainly is the life and experiences of Le Ly Hayslip during her childhood and the early adulthood stages. She was forced by the then existing hostility and insecurity in her own homeland, Vietnam to seek for safety in different countries. In trying to link up the transition experienced by Le Ly Hayslip, culture shock meaning has to be well understood. Culture shock is the difficulty experienced by individuals when they are forced by certain circumstances to adjust to another culture that varies from that in their native land. In this state individuals becomes anxious and they have no clue on how to cope with the new culture (Pedersen, 1995). Most cues that individuals were using in their country do not exist or have a very different meaning in the host country hence; it results in discomfort and confusion. There are different indicators that reveal the culture shock adjustment among individuals (Newton, 2005). First, the familiar cues on how one is to conduct himself or herself are not in existence. If familiar cues exist, in most cases they will have an unusual meaning. Secondly, the foreign individuals realizes that people in the host country have no respect for values they perceive to be good, desirable and attractive. The third indicator is that individuals become anxious, and depressed due to disorientation which results from the culture shock. The fourth indicator is that individuals become dissatisfied with the current ways of doing things as they compare with how everything is handled in their country. The Fifth indicator is that individual’s recovery skills do not function as compared to when they were living in their native land. The final indicator is the individual’s perception that the discrepancy of culture shock will remain forever. The new culture experience in most cases is abrupt and unpleasant hence, making the foreign individuals to conduct a re-evaluation of both the culture in their native land and in the new host country. There are several negative aspects associated with culture shock. Among these are; first, the strain that result from the psychological adjustment effort. Secondly, is the sense of deprivation, this focuses mainly on individual’s separation from former friends, loss of status, one’s roles and several other possessions. The third aspect is the rejection individuals may get as they adapt to the new culture. Fourthly, individuals may be disarrayed in the role definition, and expectations. Finally, individuals may develop feelings of helplessness due their inability to survive in the new environment. The shock experienced by individuals in a foreign country is classified into phases. However, not all individuals go through similar phases. In most cases, individuals may not pass through all the four phases since their stay in the foreign country may be for a short while. For example in the case of Le Ly Hayslip, she originated from Vietnam, and then relocated to Da Nang where she stayed for duration of five years. At the age of nineteen after getting married to Ed Munroe she relocated to America. This was a dream come true since Le Ly Hayslip had always long for an opportunity live in America. Apart from Hayslip relocation from her homeland, one of her brothers also experienced culture shock as he was forced by different circumstances to flee from their home country. He fled to Hanoi for twenty years and was completely separated from the rest of the family. They had to adjust and learn other different culture, which varied completely from their own. In the description of culture shock, there are no specific symptoms since individuals are affected in different ways. The four phases include; the honeymoon phase, the negotiation phase, the adjustment phase and the mastery phase. During the honeymoon phase, individuals view the culture differences in a romantic perspective. When individuals move to a foreign country, they may like the new kind of foods, the structures and even the habits of those living there. In the early weeks, individuals may be fascinated by the foreign culture. Most individuals during this phase associate with people who speak their language and remain respectful to foreigners. This stage is mainly associated with various observations and new findings. Eventually, this phase ends just like any other stage. When people have to go to a foreign country to study, to work or even to live there, they face various challenges. In most cases, these challenges include those of language differences, making new friends, education, shelter and even the workplace and work itself. The second phase is the negotiation stage. After individuals have spent some months in a foreign country, they begin to notice the culture difference and may become anxious. The excitement witnessed in the earlier stage begins to fade away and individuals in most cases are occupied with unpleasant feelings. As time goes by, individuals encounter events, which they may view as being unusual, and violative thus, they become angered and frustrated. Individuals are further distant from the new culture and surroundings by the existing language barriers, hygiene, and food availability and its quality. Apart from the existing difficulty in the communication skills, individuals may also face difficulty when they are unwell. Seeking treatment may not be easy considering that medicine may be labeled and named differently from what individuals are used to in their own countries. In this phase changes in communication remains to be significant. As individuals put in effort to learn the foreign culture, they are forced to familiarize themselves with the new environment and interact with strangers causing them to be lonely and homesick. Making new friends might not be easy because of the existing language barrier. Individuals will be forced to learn different signs of body language, the tone used in a conversation and new customs. Students in a foreign country for example, may be affected in a negative way by the new culture due to lack of parental support. The different strains experienced may interfere with the individual’s lifestyle as they try to cope with various changes. When Le Ly Hayslip fled from homeland to Da Nang, she was still young. Due to lack of parental support, she was forced to survive on her own. She was involved in different kinds of odd jobs for her to earn a living. Thirdly is the adjustment stage. When individuals have spent some time in a foreign land, they adapt the new way of living and are able to formulate different routines. In this phase, people get to know what to anticipate in different situations and in most cases they no longer feel new in the country. They mainly focus on the basic living and they begin to view everything to be normal. They also begin to formulate different skills of problem solving for them to handle the existing differences in culture. They also develop a positive attitude towards the various culture ways. In addition, individuals in this phase begin to appreciate culture and have minimal negative responses towards it. Le Ly Hayslip was able to adjust to the new culture both in Da Nang and in America. This way she was able to secure herself legitimate and illegitimate jobs and to interact well with people from her host country. Finally, is the mastery phase. During this phase, individuals are comfortable and participate actively in the new culture. However, people are not converted fully. The original culture traits remain for example, their accents and languages. This phase is best known as the biculturalism. According to Kim (1999), the passage of childhood to adulthood of all the immigrants based in the United States required them to grow up as Americans. The process is quite tough since individuals are faced with pressures of absorption that in most cases conflict with their loyalty towards their families and ethnicity. Worse still, the children are burden by the sudden shock that results as they flee from their native land and the different losses involved as they look for safer places to dwell in. Apart from Le Ly Hayslip, several other children of several Vietnamese refugees’ encountered difficulties associated with culture shock. Among the population of the Southern Asian refugees, the Vietnamese forms a larger percentage of individuals who were forced by the unfavorable situations in their country to relocate to America. This took place after the American troops based in Vietnam were withdrawn and hence, the defeat of the governments of Southeast Asian who were being supported by the United States. Being the majority of the refugee population that formed a minority ethnic group, the Vietnamese faced different challenges, as they became victims of racism (Deveney, 2007). The original culture of the immigrants forms the entire way of livelihood. These include their languages, ideas, beliefs and norms, and the different patterns of behaviour that the immigrants bring along to the foreign land. The immigrant’s original culture hinders them from adaptation. The Vietnamese immigrants later reformed their familial and the cultural establishments in different ways. The result of this was an economy that was well combined with the cultural tradition. Through the reconstruction of the social structures, a specific social capital is formed to assist the immigrants to overcome problems especially those associated with poverty and ghettoization. Vietnamese children were mainly threatened by intimidating school experience. The challenges involved were mainly the language barriers, inequality in race, and the poor educational services that they received. The big question that has remained up-to-date is how the Vietnamese immigrants tackled all these challenges. According to Min and Bankston (1998), the Vietnamese managed to survive in the American society using the available resources obtained through their cultural values and their own solidarity. In focusing on the transition of Le Ly Hayslip and other immigrants in Vietnam, the reverse culture shock has to also be understood. It mainly refers to a situation where individuals are faced with culture shock from their original land. Normally, this is the case when people return to their homeland after adjusting and adapting different to other cultures in different foreign countries. The same effects encountered by individuals when they relocate to a foreign land affect them when they come back home after a long period. The reverse culture shock mainly occurs from the following consequences, both the psychomatic and the psychological. When individuals return to their original homeland, they will be forced to undergo the process of realignment towards their initial culture. This kind of culture leaves most individuals in a surprise state and with great difficulty as they try to come up with the best ways of forging ahead. After being away from her home country Vietnam, Le Ly Hayslip decided to return in 1986 to visit friends and family members she had left behind. She had been in different relationships but all it did not work well for her. She was left with two sons who had been fathered by two different people. Great responsibility awaited her, to support her children solely. On the other, she had to stand with her family and the people in her own homeland Vietnam. Le Ly then made up her mind to divert all her energy towards building her own career, and to establish all the properties in her possession. After she had accumulated her assets, she made up her mind to support her own native land using the wealth she had acquired. She managed to establish a foundation that was known as the east meets the west. Hayslip main objective was to end the existing hatred and to heal wounds that had resulted from the war. This was not easy for her considering that she would face the reverse culture shock. She had separated from her own people for quite a long period and had adjusted to other different cultures. Her focus was to support her own country; hence, this required her to readjust to her initial culture in order to be successful. Several predictor variables classifications are useful in determining the effects of culture shock among individuals. There has to be a standard to help foreign individuals to initiate contact with the culture in the host country. Different intrapersonal factors such as one’s language skills, age, independence, and several other personal factors create the difference. The culture shock outcome can be determined by the biological factors that relate directly to an individual physical condition and the health state in general. It is important for foreigners to have interpersonal variables that includes being given proper support and well outlined roles. All these factors will determine the effect of the culture contact. In certain cases, culture shock may be perceived to be a unique way of learning and growth in education. Culture shock explanation may not be adequate however; there are various approaches to be considered. First, all foreigners have to realize that stress and discomfort may result from any significant transition in life. Secondly, individuals who are experiencing culture shock should focus on maintaining personal integrity and self-esteem. In most cases, foreigners in the new culture may lose their status when they are forced to adopt strange and unfamiliar languages, customs and other procedures to be followed. Hence, individuals from foreign countries need to be supported for them to be able to maintain a good self-image. Thirdly, individuals should be given ample time to adjust to the new culture. The adjusting rates differ greatly depending on the circumstances. For the new and old culture to be fully reconciled, adequate time will be required. The fourth approach is that it is important to consider that foreigners will be able to develop new skills and proper understanding when the forms of adjustment are realized. When an individual is adjusting to the new culture, depression and incidences of failure should be viewed just as a phase and not as a lasting feature in an individual. The fifth approach is that when culture shock symptoms are well labeled foreigners who are adjusting can easily translate emotional reactions to emphasize. Individuals find comfort when they realize others have gone through similar challenges and have made it in an extraordinary manner. Sixth, when an individual has adjusted well to his or her native land’s culture, it will not necessarily be a guarantee to simple adjustment when one relocates to a foreign land. In most cases, people become homesick if they had a better life in their own home country. People may also transfer the problems they had in their previous homes into the new culture. This will result in both the new and the old cultures being disturbed as individuals try to adopt a new culture in order to avoid the existing problems. Seventh, culture shock cannot be prevented from occurring however, it is possible to simplify the adjustment process by equipping individuals for the whole transition into the new culture. Preparation may be conducted through language study, researching more information that concerns the foreign country, and interacting with those from host country before one relocates. The adjustment phase has three major outcomes. First, individuals who have relocated to a different country may have trouble as they try to accommodate and integrate the foreign culture. In this scenario, individuals completely distance themselves from the environment they find in the host country. Their perception is that every activity in the new land is hostile and prefers to stay in the ghetto. Most individuals in this kind of situation perceive that the only solutions to their own problems is to go back home where they fit well. The people in this group are mainly known to be rejectors. Another challenge faced by the people in this state is that, they are also faced with difficulty in readjusting back to their culture when time comes for them to re-unite with other individuals in their homeland. The second outcome is that other people mixes fully and adopts everything in the new location and they easily lose their own identity. These groups of people do not go back to their native land, instead they settled in the host country forever. Individuals belonging to this group are best known as adopters. The third outcome is that other individuals will just adapt a few aspects from the host country, those that they perceive to be positive. They also retain some of the aspects from their own culture thus the result will be a unique blend. This group of people can easily cope in any kind of environment. They can choose to stay in a foreign land or to go back to their original country. In most cases, individuals in this group are known to be cosmopolitan. In addition to the outcomes, culture shock is also known to have various kinds of effects, time limit and level of severity. Most individuals who fall victims of culture shock become disabled and in most cases, they cannot easily explain what they are going through. Culture shock is known to form part of the transition shock. Transition shock is mainly considered a situation of loss and confusion which results when individuals relocate from their original environment hence, being forced to make certain adjustments. Transition shock has different symptoms and this may include excessive worry on issues of cleanliness and one’s health, irritability, longing for former friends and home, withdrawal, homesickness, too much sleep, hostile behaviour towards individuals in the host country and stereotyping them. Conclusion From the various culture shock views, several assumptions can be made. First, culture shock is best understood as being a learning process and not a disease regardless of individuals experiencing pain and discomfort. Secondly, culture shock may also be associated with other life crises apart from the cases where individuals relocate to other foreign countries. Individuals may go through adaptation and accommodation process due to radical changes and the experience itself may fit into the different conditions stated in the culture shock. Thirdly, accurate measurement of culture shock might not be possible due to its complexity and miscellaneous nature. Fourthly, the pain and the discomfort that individuals face during the culture shock process can be reduced by preparing them well to face the experience. Fifth, culture shock is a phenomenon that occurs frequently. Hence, to some extend people may become familiar with it. Le Ly Hayslip life reveals different transitions and culture shock, which she experienced. Her memoir focuses mainly on her childhood experiences in Vietnam during the war, her relocation to the United States. It also highlights the period when she returned back to Vietnam in 1986 after 16 years to visit her friends and family members she had left behind. Hayslip visit to Vietnam was a reunion to the father of her first-born son, her siblings and mother. At that time the tensions from the just ended war was still being felt and her family became afraid of associating with her. The memoir’s conclusion is Le Ly Hayslip supplication for the existing hostility between the Americans and Vietnamese to be brought to an end. The memoir portrays Le Ly Hayslip as an individual who has great zeal to support her country. Regardless of her gender, she was committed to fight for her nation and was well known to be a revolutionary hero. Unfortunately, her effort did not go far as everything came to a standstill when the republic of Vietnam soldiers captured her. After being tortured and raped, she decided to seek for safety in other foreign countries. It was not easy for her to adjust to the new culture considering the existence of the language barrier and the unique lifestyles. For her to be able to survive, she got involved in both the legitimate and illegitimate jobs. References Barry, K. ( 1996).The Prostitution of Sexuality. New York ,NY: NYU Press. Bow, L. (2001). Betrayal and other acts of subversion: feminism, sexual politics, Asian American women's literature. 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