Claremont Centre for Process Studies - Essay Example

Since the Claremont Centre was once known as an institute, the Chinese people who came to study here came with huge expectations. To the Chinese, an institute is an impressive place with impressive facilities. One professor from China, Xiuhua Zhang, who visited the centre, expressed her shock over the fact that Claremont “institute” was situated in a tiny basement in a small crowded office that did not even have dividers, within another institution, yet it was referred to as an institute. To address this shock, the organizers of the scholars’ visits decided to use the term “centre” instead of “institute” to refer to the Claremont Centre. This was done to reduce the expectations of the Chinese scholars when they visited the place.

The culture shock was further exhibited by Professor Zhang when she visited America and proceeded to her host’s house. She expected to find certain things associated with the American lifestyles such as a pool, lots of gadgets, and many children among others. She was surprised that her host did not have a pool, and the house was very simple.