BBS讨论（自由发帖）

It’s beautiful doesn’t mean I want to have it.

Once I was interpreting for several Israeli trainers in Guangzhou. During the tea break, one approached me and asked in a low voice. She went, “Qiqi, may I ask you that is it cultural that if someone say your scarf is beautiful and that means you need to give her your scarf?” 

I was quite shocked saying no no it’s not like that.

So she told me the whole story that she praised one Chinese participant for her beautiful scarf and that participant insisted to give this kind Israeli teacher her scarf. I tried so hard not to laugh but I told her next time you could say this first before your compliments. You could say, “ I really don’t want and I don’t need your scarf. I only want to say your scarf is beautiful.”

She said,”I really like your shirt and it’s beautiful!”

I said,” I won’t give it to you and thank you.”

Then we both laughed. 

Theme:A Localism Backset in the Era of Globalization

We are now living in a globalizing world, and although English as a language belongs historically to a single nation, it continues to evolve to an important lingua franca, known as EFL. In this aspect, English becomes more a "world-language" with less local distinctions but more common characteristics that could be acknowledged by the world (Liang and Yang, 2019). Therefore, an international and responsible media as BBC is, it should  highlight features of English which reveal connectivity and common features of this language. However, in this documentary all we could see is a desperate claim of pride, isolation and parismony, especially that guy who just don`t want to share the food in his fridge. I see this documentary rather a lamentable echo of the cause of Britain`s current situation, and the solution lies just at the contrary of the attitude given by this documentary. We need to compromise to one another, rather than over-highlighting why we are so "different".

[1] ]Liang & Yang.(2020).On the Role of Translators and Interpretors in Multicutural Context. Journal of Kaifeng Vocational College of Culture & Art(12),53-56. 

姓名：梁力乔  学号：0213100937

On seeing the title of the documentary, I anticipated new cultural shocks. What astounded me was I did get the shocks. They just weren't "cultural." 

I am Nigerian, and Nigeria was a British colony. We can trace the influence of the Brits in Nigeria back to the seventeenth century. The relationship started off as trade exchange and then moved on to slave trade, wars, and colonization. Nigeria was an official British colony for 40 years, 1914 to 1954. It goes without mention that as a colony of Britain, Nigeria will be influenced by the Brit's language and culture. We can see these influences in every colonized country even after the colonizers "leave." The question is, do they leave? How much impact is left on the colonized? For how long do these impacts remain?

I never thought about these questions until I watched Very British Problems. Why? Five minutes into the video, I changed the British in Very British Problems to Nigeria, leaving me with "Very Nigerian Problems." It was that relatable. I resonated with several of the problems, from the sorry problems to the driving aggression to the guest treatment and especially the awkwardness that shrouds all of these.

The documentary shocked me by showing me how not so peculiar the problems I deemed peculiar to Nigerians are and left me with questions I will continue to ruminate over for a long time. 

ISHOLA Labake Sikirat(乐佳)0217409024

It seems that people, no matter where they are from, easily get embarrassed. As soon as one British encounters another, the awkwardness instantly emerges, from saying hi to saying goodbye. 

Most of British people, just as we Chinese, try to blend into the background when they meet someone they know in a street or a coach of a train. Striking up a conversation is like a torture for some people but is also part of social interaction and etiquette. Although being fretful of chit chatting, the British are also so considerate and caring that they don't want to make others embarrassed even if they are. 

But they are very forthright in some occasions. For example, when a British invites a person to his home and says, "Make yourself at home", it doesn't necessarily mean the person can do whatever he wants. And when it's already late, the host hopes that the guest may just leave promptly. All these conform to social norms in England, but when it comes to foreigners, say the Chinese, who have no clue about the norm, they are very likely to enter the minefield and offend the natives due to cultural shock.

赵甜馨 0213701068

After watching the documentary "Very British Problems", one "problem" that many British people have interests me a lot -- they often make apologies. And the reason may not be that they have done something wrong but they just say "sorry" very often. Some British people even apologize to things with no life. For example, when a British person bumps into a street lamp, he/she makes an apology. This behaviour shows that British people apologize not to leave an impression on other people but to simply do something they think they should do. And this is different from us Chinese who sometimes apologize out of etiquette.

Today’s age is one of globalization. In this melting pot of culture and traditions, people all over the world are subject to drastic changes in views and habits. Sometimes, these changes bring about good things and allow people to experience wonderful things they have never thought about. Other times, however, the exchange of certain information reinforces existing stereotypes and divides us even more.

One clear example of this conflicting phenomenon can be seen in the culinary world. While most people are happy to try out different dishes and explore more options offered through the merge of cultures. Some prejudices have not changed. In the Western world, Koreans and Chinese people are often still labelled as dog-eaters. Despite the fact that only a small portion of the population takes part in the consumption and that the dogs are specifically raised for the purpose, some Westerners still think that all Asians show a wanton disregard for life and enjoys murdering cute little puppies. Similarly, Western food as traditional as the steak evokes a feeling of barbarism and savageness in the minds of some more traditional Chinese people simply due to the way it is cooked.

Many other examples can be found in all aspects of life, but the root cause of all these prejudices lies in a lack of mutual respect. We must learn to empathize with people of other cultures. This means not only putting ourselves in their shoes, but think and act as they would. Only then, can we truly understand one another and appreciate the fine details of foreign cultures.

This is a very detailed explanation of dos and don’ts in terms of fitting into the British society. I didn’t know that they have so many behavioral taboos even if I had been to Britain. Now it seems to me that I had never get the gist of how to effectively mingle into the British community. 

Personally I would consider myself a "mental British" after watching this documentary. I totally echo with them when they feel more or less awkward in terms of greeting, cohabitating with neighbors, apologizing, hosting guests, and going to pubs with friends and buying rounds. I think it's common recognition that we tend to paper over the self-centered motives and pretend that we are in a perfectly harmonious world where everyone is willing to sacrifice for other people, even strangers. In this case, we are inevitably fallen into the cliche that we often cannot say what is in our mind directly. This can be amusing to watch, especially to hear it from experienced public figure. But in real life, it is really uncomfortable to think that we have to worry about these taboos while we go along with our life.

So I suppose that maybe today the real cultural shock is that we think we have different traits while the fact shows the contrary.

“Shocks” occur frequently during any kind of interpersonal communication, even to the ones who share the same civilization and culture: one could be raised to share almost every piece of food or daily products with his roommates whilst one another could feel embarrassed, having a sort of feeling that he too is obliged to share back his personal belongings while he certainly don’t feel comfortable doing so; one from the northern parts of China could have very different views about showering in a public bathhouse (as a rather important social place back where they came from, for the sake of an example) than his southern schoolmates, etc. We share the same culture, but that doesn’t stop us from running into “shocks” during our interactions, due to familial or regional differences in our premises. We may as well invent a term called “interpersonal shock”. 

Cultural shocks, are nothing else than interpersonal shocks caused by greater gap between our mindsets. But still is “cultural shock” an interesting subject, because this gap is so great that it could be almost undetectable, until profound misunderstandings take place and cause a scene that’s way more serious than the ones between roommates or colleagues from different families or provinces.

So, yes, let’s be conscious to discover more about this gap, and make it at least detectable in our international affairs related work or communication.

欧阳廖鑫

0213700015

This week in the Chinese culture class, we saw a documentary called “Very British Problems”. We got to know a lot about the life of the British people, especially their “life problems”, including daily greetings, small talk, visiting others, etc. From my point of view, these embarrassments actually show British people’s unique personalities. Compared to what we have studied in the first class on the Chinese culture, we can see a lot of differences.

British people care about their privacy. They respect privacy so much that they do not like public transportations (even bus or subway). It would be more annoying if someone bothers others on the train by making too much noise. Another situation is when someone visit their friend’s house, he or she would be “expelled” by the host because some inappropriate behaviors (such as opening the host’s fridge) would make the host feel offended.

However, Chinese people show more “care” to others. When Chinese people visit their friends’ house, they would try to talk about almost everything about their personal life (job, marriage, decoration, etc.), which can be seen as rude for some British people. But it exactly shows the character of the Chinese people: More likely to care about interpersonal interactions rather than being private.

Etiquette and interpersonal interactions are outward manifestations of each culture. From my perspective, there is more to this documentary than meets the eye. As a Chinese, I can feel both “cultural shock” and empathy. Britons tend to be embarrassed about social contacts such as making small talks or saying a proper goodbye. There also exists some quite “British problems” like saying “Sorry” many times a day. However, a Chinese is also likely to avoid someone he or she knows and shy away from embarrassing conversations and greetings. Each culture in the world has “universal similarities” in some ways. At the same time, I am still confused whether some of these so-called “British Problems” are common in English speaking world or in the world. Anyway, “culture” is a rather vague and general word and this documentary helps us get a quick view about British culture and lifestyle.

As the documentary shows, it is the long historic, traditional and geographic factors that leads to the famous „English gentlemen“ and „English etiquette“. It also leads to the very British problems like awkward greetings, unwanted small talks and highly-appreciated privacy. many English people have to go through a cultural shock when facing foreigners.

However, we should never only look at them in this way, or we will walk into the trap of cultural shock. One worst thing about social media and globalization is that we pay so much attention to the differences between cultures and nations that cliche has occupied our mind. We tend to overemphasize the shock caused by stereotype to such a degree where intercultural communication without embarrassment or friction is ironically abnormal. It has to be admitted that there are English people who actually love small talks and feel more than comfortable to communicate and socialize with strangers - these „atypical“ English should and could not be denationalized. What I am saying is not that cultural differences are not important. On the contrary, I recognize the importance by refusing to let them be distorted. Shock is absolutely normal, so is no-shock.

I would say this is a very fun documentary. The embarassments in it reminded me of experiences of my own. However, to look at it from a bigger picture, such awkwardness  is not something only people sharing the same culture experience, but often happens more in the process of cross-cultural communications.

As a student majoring in interpretation, chances are that we experience this quite often. So when we communicate with foreigners, it is important that we do some researches beforehand and be careful not to offend them in order to make them feel comfortable.

That said, I believe that some of the behaviors in this documentary just went too far. For example, they would pretend not seeing a colleague from work just because he/she does not wear make-up, or they were shy to ask a person’s name when it was 10-15 minutes into their conversations. Maybe for them it is hard to break the ice first, so we can be the ones to help them to fit in the different cultures they are in. Maybe we can be the people who make the introductions first and repeat the names intentionally so the awkwardness can be avoided. I think this is the manifestation of professionalism of being an interpreter.

To sum up, it is essential for us, the language learners, to understand the differences between different cultures, so that in this way we can prevent embarrassment and misunderstandings from happening and help build a friendly and harmonious atmosphere.

高艳 0213701030

After watching this video, it dawns on me that these are not British problems, but worldwide problems. For example, Changing accent is common in our life, especially when taking a phone call. For me, I will make my voice more vital and sweet, to make a good impression on the other. Although there are many similarities between British and us in terms of these awkward situations, actually British are more struggling in these cases. Take asking somebody else’s name as an example, one of the interviewees says in the documentary film that one can ask “sorry, what is your name?” within the first 90 seconds in a conversation. But if one have been chatting with others for about ten minutes, asking for others’ name is not allowed because of etiquette. For me, if I don’t know the name of whom is talking with me, I would ask the question in a very polite manner. To summarize, the British are a synonym for what we think of as stereotypical and eccentric, but they also represent elegance, nobility and gentleness and are adorable to some extent.

陈子盈 0213801585

Before watching this documentary, I thought that some British customs were being told in the documentary, what I didn't expect was that many of the embarrassing scenes presented in the documentary I have encountered in my life. I also found that the differences between different societies in many small aspects of life have become smaller and smaller as globalization continues, such as how to greet people on public transport. Although we still feel uncomfortable in cross-cultural communication because of cultural differences, like Chinese people are not used to the tipping culture, I think it might be possible to make the cultural exchange more natural if we can first share common ground in cross-cultural communication.

钟诗彤 0213701133

The documentary reminds me of my tour to England several years ago. I have been deeply appreciating their social etiquettes.

The high school I visited had teaching buildings complicated inside with numerous fireproof doors (I don’t know about its exact name and only remembered the door needed to be held or will close automatically). Whenever I came to the door, I found it was prevented from closing – people would spontaneously hold the door for the latecomers.

Moreover, when I waited in the line in the shop, I found people would voluntarily stand out of the one-meter-line in front of the cashier. I was shocked – that was the first time I have seen one-meter-line playing it role! After all, one-meter-line in China at that time was just a yellow or red bar sticker on the ground with no one noticed – people would only push themselves forward as if they were fairly intimate with the one in front of them.

Actually, I was a little bit shocked on watching the documentary to know they should be annoyed for the etiquettes that I appreciated a lot. However, despite the annoyance, I could see their proud for performing the etiquette, which is the foundation of their cultural traits.

😆😆✨The series brings up fun and interesting facts that I was not aware of. The British humor is also attractive. 

Although the show is called "very British problems", these awkward things mentioned in the documentary do actually take place in China as well. I can imagine myself in every situation, acting the same way.

“I am Chinese but this is so me”

So many countries in the world may share a lot of similarities.

We are not so different as we thought.

For example, when I go to eat lunch and meet an acquaintance, If he/she doesn’t notice me, I will just pretend on my phone and try to avoid any conversation. I do so not because I dislike them. I just feel embarrassed worrying about if we will have no topic except saying“hello”.

So I can totally understand how hard the British people try to make themselves feel comfortable but maintain their politeness at the same time.

In addition, “making small talk” is difficult for me. Every time I go to a barber shop, I just want to get my hair cut and have a peaceful rest. However, the barber always tries to involve me in a conversation, which makes me feel quite awkward. In fact, if they can keep quiet and just go on their business, I‘ll choose this shop every time.

I always believe that every culture is unique and has its own distinguish features, but they’re also interconnected and if you look into it, you can see abundant similarities in certain lifestyles, personalities, and ways of communication.

In fact, people from different cultural backgrounds also suffer from these so-called “very british problems”, including myself. For instance, I will definitely avoid chitchat with a taxi driver or in public occasions as much as possible, and there is no doubt that many other people will hold the same idea. Individual views may differ, but before we jump into conclusions and feel the need to judge others or their cultures, we must ask ourselves first: what will I react if I were him/ her? This kind of sympathy should be greatly valued, especially in an era where racism and equality prevail.

As far as I’m concerned, different cultures are not as incompatible as some presume, for we are all humans living on the same planet, so at the end of the day, it remains important for us to put joint effort in preserving cultural diversity and thus enable a more inclusive world in which we all live comfortably.

Through these two videos, I have a preliminary understanding of British social communication. In addition, I can find many common points from British people. For example, I am afraid to say hello to others, and I won't talk to strangers unless I have to, and I don't know how to start a topic when chatting with strangers. I also do not like outsiders, even friends, to enter my home, because I think home is a private area of life, outsiders should not enter at will. I also don't like to be overly affectionate with each other, and I try to avoid unnecessary contact. I even feel like I have a Brit living inside me.

But these two videos focus on British stereotypes. In today's global village, the cultural characteristics of different countries and different races are becoming more and more similar or even integrated. We should not let some stereotypes predominate when conducting cross-cultural communication, but should learn to listen, see and feel truly. In my opinion, the key point of cross-cultural communication lies in how to communicate properly after understanding each other's language and cultural background.

吴佳寅 0213701111

陈晓雪 0213700986

If there is one British habit in the documentary apparently different from ours, that is most British men do not speak out when someone sits on the seat that they have booked before. By contrast, in most cases, Chinese people tend to ask those seat robbers to stand up, which I have witnessed many times on the carriage of high-speed rail. Why do British people tend to just shut up and walk away when their seats are taken by others? Perhaps the reason is that they attach so much importance to what they look like in others’ eyes and are so afraid of leaving a bad impression on others that they even do not dare to ask for their due rights. But things are different in China where politeness is also a cultural tradition but justice is highly valued as well. Obviously, sitting on others’ seats without permission is impolite in essence and may encourage injustice if not curbed, so victims are encouraged to stop such behavior without any fear of criticism in China. Even if they fail, they will get much help in the pro-justice atmosphere. Therefore, I believe that British people should learn to pay less attention to their impressions on others and bravely stand up against such undesirable phenomenon.

In the documentory we have seen that the British have no idea what to say or do when meet other people. It seems a little bit strange to us and may transform into the so called cultural shock.

People's behaviors can reflect their thoughts. When we Chinese meet someone we know, we always like to ask if you have had your meal? This actually reflects the troditional thinking of Chinese people that "the food is what matters to people". When in Korea the queation would become where will you go. Actually When people ask these questions, they don’t really want to know the answers. To be honest, they are not even curious about that. In fact, it’s just a way of greeting which can make yourself and the other person appear close. So in cross-cultural communication, it’s really important for us to have a brief prehension of the other culture so that we can aviod some unnecessary misunderstanding and cultural shock.

苏思洋 0213701117

     The documentary, in the form of interviews, examines the behaviour and beliefs of the British people as they strive to avoid all unnecessary socialising.

     As for why the British always try to avoid socialising, I think the reasons are as follows:

     1. Climate. The temperate maritime climate of UK leads to perennial rain in this country, so people can only stay at home for a long time, and lack of opportunities to go out to communicate with others and carry out social activities. Over time, the British have become less socially active and more "good at" staying at home alone.

    2. Low population density. The population density of UK is 260 people per square kilometre. Low population density leads to more independent living space for each person, lower probability of overlapping social circles, and more difficult opportunities to communicate with other

    3. Historical and cultural reasons. In Chinese history, the ritual and music system of rigid hierarchy requires bowing or kowtowing to people older than oneself. However, Britain did not have such a requirement in history. As the former empire on which the sun never set, Britain colonized the world on a large scale.  What's more, because it was located in Europe and was deeply influenced by Renaissance and the second industrial revolution, it longed for equality and freedom, so it was more casual in social contact.

    4. Location. Surrounded by the sea, Britain is more independent, which also makes British people more independent and not good at communication.

    In view of this phenomenon, for individuals, on the one hand, direct or indirect means of rejecting social contact can provide a relatively stable range of communication for life and reduce the trouble caused by unnecessary interpersonal communication. On the other hand, as the saying goes, "a close neighbor is better than a distant relative", refusing to socializing will make people far away and helpless when they need help from others. For the collective, some social conflicts may be avoided. But in the long run, people will become more indifferent, and collective, social and national cohesion may be reduced.

The first impression that I got from the video was just, was that the so-called "social phobia", with which we always make fun of outselves in our daily life. It doesn't matter, when the Briton associate with each other that way. However, when it comes to the intercultural communication, that would lead to nothing but culture shock. The culture shock is so obvious, when people with really different conventions and customs run into each other. 

An example mentioned in the video was the way Briton and French greet. That means, the cheek kissing from the French may make the Briton awkward, who are used to handshake. But culture shock like this is nothing new in the intercultural communication. A good solution to it is full preparation for it. An old saying in China goes like, "No preparation, no sucess" namely "预则立，不预则废". For instance, during the visit of Obama in Japan, he bowed down to greet the Emperor of Japan, which is literally the normal etiquette in Japan. Apparently, Obama showed his respect to the customs of the host country in this way and left a great impression on the Emperor of Japan. And it would be easier to promote their communication. Therefore, before we go to a foreign land, we' re supposed to do some research, to come to unterstand, how and why do the people there live, eat, behaviour and so on. Then we are prepared to deal with and to show more respect to some "weird" behaviours.

Very British Problems (VBP) depicts typical problems in British people’s life stemming from national characteristics, for example, they would like to restrain their feelings or express themselves in a euphemistic way. In VBP, what impresses me most is that they will get themselves fully prepared for a trip. In the first lesson, we discussed the definition of culture. I cannot agree more with the view that culture is closely related to geography. “I am an islander”, the words in the opening, can explain all these typical problems to a large extent. In Britain, an island surrounded by water, visits of rain always catch people off guard, which reminds them of uncertainties in life and teaches them to make full preparation. Island also means that they are isolated. So they have the ingrained awareness of individual boundaries, which may explain why they feel awkward when greeting neighbors, talking with doctors, being disturbed by guests who really make themselves at home.
英语笔译2班 谭爱清

Last week I saw Very British Problems in the class. The funny documentary tells us many problems that the British is facing today. When they run into someone else, they don’t know they should probably shake hands with each other or give a hug instead. And when they take the bus, they are afraid of chatting with others. 

For many Chinese, however, chatting on a street, or in the bus is very common. The Chinese talk about everything, including the place they go, the food they eat, or the problems they have. That may be what they called ‘culture shock’. Many Chinese may feel uncomfortable when they visit the Britain, they will find almost everything is different from China.

Although I am from China, I have to say that not just the British have these problems. I live with some of them too. When someone I know say ‘hi’ to me in the street, I will be nervous. And if he or she start to talk about my life, I feel awkward and have no idea what to say because I think that’s my privacy. Therefore, I believe that not everyone will experience culture shock.

After watching the documentary Very British Problems, which tells us about its culture of dealing with the world, I feel that Britain is a European version of China.

Due to their geographical separation from mainland Europe and the frequency of rainy days, they have a quite different national character and social norms from the others such as Spain and Italy. On the contrary, the Chinese can resonate with them in the circuitous way they go about things.

In particular, the unspoken rule of receiving visitors reminds me of an anecdote. Once, my classmate shared her experience of interpreting for a Chinese businessman and a Colombian client. When it was time to say goodbye, the Chinese asked if he wanted to have a cup of tea together before leaving, which was translated directly to the Colombian, as a result the client took the invitation seriously and stayed for another hour, but in fact it was just a way of showing our respect and courtesy, as the British often do.

From my point of view, there are no clear boundaries or absolute superiority between direct or introverted personalities. The cultural diversity and the development globalization have made culture shock more frequent. However, as long as we take initiative to research more information in this field before setting foot in a new country, and also talk about our own culture in conversations, it is not a difficult matter to keep harmony in diversity. 

0213701131 苏滢涵

“I don’t know how to say hello to each other.” In this British documentary, each of us will encounter this embarrassing thing more or less in our daily lives. Although it may be in different forms and situations, the essence behind these phenomena is the same ——The inheritance and innovation of traditional culture in the modern or in the development process of the times. Just like the phenomenon mentioned at the beginning of the documentary, young people in the UK are now changing their greetings when they meet, gradually transitioning from the traditional kiss on the cheek to a simple handshake. Although there may be an embarrassing situation where one person is ready to shake hands while the other person is ready to kiss on the cheek, this embarrassing situation is a manifestation of the continuous development and innovation of culture, and the continuous conformity to the needs of the times and current society. Secondly, encountering talkative drivers in taxis can make me feel cultural conflicts and collisions. Talking people and people who are not good at talking, the formation of two personalities is not only their own factors, but also closely related to the environment in which they grew up, and the environment is also an important part of culture. When two people living in different cultural environments meet, it will inevitably cause conflict and annoyance. This is the case in the UK, let alone between countries. The important thing is how do we look at such cultural conflicts and how to balance two different cultures.

杨佳琦 0213701085

Named as Very British Problems, the self-defeating documentary describes British people’s personality, social etiquette, as well as way to deal with interpersonal affair and so on. From its humorous narration and carefully designed circumstances, the documentary has successfully conveyed us a notion of British national characteristics to some extent, which are extreme conservative and introverted, and sometimes even excessive polite, such as apologizing automatically even though he or she is not responsible for the event.

In my view, I find that British characteristics bear a striking similarity to Chinese people, especially in the aspect of conservation and moderation. It is worth exploring the reason why these two nations share certain resemblances despite the remote distance. Limited by the length, what I mainly want to discuss here is the  political system.

As both countries used to be governed by feudal dynasty, which has strict social rank for a long time, the idea of hierarchy is instilled in people’s mind. Correspondingly, the culture developed under this the notion is more prudent and conservative, trying not to challenge the authority. In British, they call this as “social stratification”, while in China we name it as “Li(礼)”, which in fact are employed as tools to uphold the rule of feudal dynasty. Thus the obedience and politeness are cultivated deeply in both the Chinese and the British psychological pattern.

To conclude, geographic location, production mode, economic structure, local culture and even political system are accountable for cultivating the national characteristics. It is no wonder that the “very British problems” are not restricted to British people, other nations’ people will display them as well, because I believe human being, who possesses certain universal nature, shares similar humanity to some degree.

吴红萱 0213100939

In the documentary, Very British Problems, British people are terrible in chatting with people and feel embarrassed to engaging in conversations with neighbors. This has plunged me into deep thinking, not about the typical British "sorry" or "How's the weather like today?"; instead, I was reminded of a buzzword that has prevailed in recent years, that is, "social phobia". It used to refer to a mental disorder but has changed into an online buzzword that people feel reluctant and unwilling to contact with other people, whether people they know or strangers.

As a word widely spread by Chinese netizens, its target has changed, and the group using social phobia patients as their identity cannot completely adapt to social character. They met some problems in adaptive process and became seceder of social character. This is well reflected in the change of the relationship with neighbors. In the past, Chinese people used to form a good relationship with their neighbors through interaction, like chatting with or helping each other. However, at present, people may not greet with their neighbors or even know their names, not to mention providing help.

In terms of the reasons led to this phenomenon, it's mainly due to the urbanization as well as the technology. In From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society, Fei Xiaotong wrote, "people in rural China know no other life than that dictated by their own parochialism. It is a society where people live from birth to death in the same place, and where people think that this is the normal way of life. Because everyone in a village lives like that, distinctive patterns of human relationships form. Every child grows up in everyone else's eyes, and in the child's eyes everyone and everything seem ordinary and habitual. This is a society without strangers, a society based totally on the familiar." However, as the urbanization accelerates, people begin to move very quickly from the rural areas to the cities, where the society based on the familiar no longer exists and people living there may come from various backgrounds, cultures and social classes. In this way, communication among neighbors may be hindered. At the same time, the structure of residential buildings in the city has changed with the increasing number of residents, from tube-shaped apartments to high-rise buildings which can accommodate more dwellers. Therefore, people are no longer capable of remembering that many neighbors or visiting from door to door. Besides, as the mass media, like TV and smart phones, go popular, people can have instantaneous access to information, unlike in the past when they used to gather together to discuss about latest issues.

Very British problems are deeply ingrained in the national psyche. It seems that awkward social interactions happen everyday and everywhere. For British people, they need to deal with embarrassment no matter when they greet others or say goodbye, and also no matter at home or in the outside world. From my perspective, sometimes this awkwardness in public may be inclusive of society anxiety. They have a horror of defending and being in public comes with an obligation to be polite in Britain.

 However, there are still have some underlying rules and principles within themselves. For instance, they do expect people to reward our politeness with a polite “Thank you” when they hold the door open for others. And they do not mean guests can open their refrigerators without permission even though they often say “Please help yourself” or “Make yourself at home” to express their hospitality.

 These problems in Britain are understandable because they are similar with some of those in China. There must be certain connections and common characteristics between two different cultures with unique features though.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

I’ve found Shakespeare’s famous line in Hamlet particularly true when I “trespassed”, whether intentionally or not, into a different culture. That’s the word – trespass. The very move of ramming into a place with a culture that you are alien to is almost as offensive as breaking into a stranger’s backyard, because under both conditions, you would feel unwelcomed. The petty difference lies in that the owner of the yard might hit you with a real hammer while practitioners of another culture with an invisible, cultural hammer. And that’s where this whole “culture shock” thing comes from – simple deeds of the locals. This is where I want to share a personal experience with my readers. Last year, I went to Guangzhou City for a competition, and to level with you, that was the first time I ever went that south (I’m from Northeast China). Even though I never left China’s border, culture shock still found a way to creep on me, and dude nailed it at my first dinner there. I was wandering on the street with my teacher, seeking for a place to grab some food, yet none of the restaurants seemed fit for a simple dinner: they were all so “grand”.  In the north, we don’t go to such places if not for a large gathering. But things work differently here, obviously. Half an hour later, we were sitting by a small table in a gargantuan hall, taking our order, when a waitress served us a pot of tea and a dirty, shabby, plastic bowl with a mouldy crack on its bottom. My teacher and I were dumbstruck. Neither of us knew what it was for – I mean the gross bowl, of course. We were intelligent enough to know the tea was for drinking (well, not entirely so though, as we later discovered). We didn’t do anything with the bowl, because asking for its usage would absolutely expose our identity as visitors. And for whatever reason, we would not risk being seen as out of place, never. The next day, we learned that people in the south are accustomed to wash their tableware (in restaurants) with hot tea before each meal, and the bowl was a container for the dirty water. We northerners never do that. No wonder the bowl was so UNpleasing to the eye.

So, there are indeed a lot more things in heaven and earth, actually even in north and south, than are dreamt of in our philosophy. And I guess we have to emerge ourselves in that heterogeneous culture so as to turn from a trespasser to a, well, passer-by.

邱海涛 0213700981

It is lovely to see that people in different countries are also confused by their socializing culture. And many embarrassing moments happen to British also occurs in Chinese, such as greeting. In China, we greet each other with hand shake or hugs, but no one actually know how other people greets oneself, and thus it comes to awkward situation. Chinese people also meet the taxi drivers mastering lecturing. In China, divers often show their hospitality by chattering randomly with passengers, be reluctant or exhausted the passengers. And it is common that we occasionally missed some words in the conversation, and fail to go on. Just like British people, we smile and comment like “oh, really! God bless you.” Therefore, awkward situations in socializing are much the same no matter in China or Britain.

In my opinion, the Britons’ way of doing things or thinking reflects the British culture to some extent. As we all know, one’s personality is influenced by the environment or surroundings where they are raised. In the document, one woman says, I am an island race. Leave me alone”. Those words exactly show how deeply Britons’ character is influenced by its geographical features. I do not want to dig dipper into the factors that shape Britons’ characters and instead I would like to share my views on how to get along with Britons. To get along with Britons, what matters is to understand them as well as their cultures. From my perspective, Chinese and Britons share similar characters such as being reserved and introspective. However, sometimes we deal with things in totally different ways. For example, when someone says “明天玩得开心” or “Have a nice day” in English, we Chinese regard it as good wishes and will feel very pleased while the Britons may feel that it is impractical and too ideal for no one will feel happy all the day. Hence, when we deal with people from other cultures, we should know their culture and the underlying meaning behind their words or acts to avoid something embarrassing or insulting.

Before today’s class we were assigned to research on the definition and the superficial and implied meanings of the word culture, so I looked it up in the dictionary and found that culture, which includes beliefs, customs and other sorts of psychological things, belongs to a particular society, group and place. From the literal meaning, a culture is restricted to one specific area and does not transmit to or even merge with another culture in somewhere else. Personally, I don’t think it covers the whole truth. Especially, after I watched today’s documentary about British culture, I am more willing to believe that culture is becoming increasingly fluid and commonly shared in modern society.

Though in today’s documentary, there are lots of cultural conflicts or culture shocks that are humorously presented. For example, different cultures have varied ways of greeting, which led to some awkward moments when people with different greeting habits meet each other and don’t know how to greet politely rather than behaving offensively. I as a Chinese could still find many cultural similarities between British culture and Chinese culture. 

In specific, British people’s fear of small talk resonates with many of us. Besides, their shying away from eye contact and conversation with strangers in public places is also what most Chinese people are doing now and then. According to historian and population geneticist Maciamo Hay, British as an “island race” tends to be reserved, polite and class-conscious, to which we can find evidence correspondingly in today’s documentary. Similarly, we Chinese people also have an image of reservedness, politeness and class-awareness. As a nation of etiquette and ceremonies, China has a long history of strictly respecting set social codes and norms since the time of Confucius. And the division of classes even emerged as early as in some creation myth like the legend of Nuwa creating people. Therefore, the historical tradition, geological conditions and other factors jointly shape the values and beliefs, customs and characters of British and Chinese people, some of which are distinct while some others are similar, which can be strongly backed up by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model (https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/china,the-uk/).

All in all, the point I want to emphasize is that culture is not a kind of thing that is isolated from each other and limited to one area and there are not only cultural shocks, but also cultural commonplaces, especially in today’s highly globalized world where people with different culture backgrounds are free to exchange ideas and values and are more open to learn from each other. Perhaps in the far future, there will be only one culture called global culture shared by every single citizen in this planet if people are getting more and more open-minded. Who knows, hhh.

MT-C 蒋丛蔚 0213700952 

In the documentary Very British Problems, I saw some real differences between the British and Chinese in terms of lifestyle and etiquette. For example, the British are obsessed with tea while Chinese don’t regard it as a necessity. The British have this so-called rule of buying rounds while in Chinese culture of drinking, people tend to fight over the bill to look polite and generous. 

Indeed, such things could be a hurdle to cross-cultural communication, but the documentary showed us people from different cultures actually share a lot of similar feelings, which is at the heart of successful communication. Because it is this subtle empathy that allows people to understand and identify with each other, on the basis of which deeper communication is possible. Therefore, in a world fraught with misunderstandings and discrimination, we should try to put down our judgmental self and look at others with open eyes.

“Keeps Calm and Carries on Through Discomfort.”

 These are the very words in both describing the British way of life and guiding us how to deal with the culture shock in cross-cultural communication. Contrary to the “exotic customs” I expected before, I echoed with almost every “problem” in this documentary. Searching for acceptance is a kind of human nature, and founding the fact that mannerisms are common to many cultures, people and countries around the world make me think that we are not so different after all. It is an encouraging thought, especially in our difficult times.

However, conflicts and discomforts are still inevitable in cross-cultural communication. Despite we share the same feelings towards many social problems, the Chinese and the British still hold different thinking patterns. Taking cooking as an example, Chinese people often use vague terms such as "a few" or "appropriate" in their recipes, but British recipes will mark the amount of each ingredient down to grams. We can see the difference of thinking between the two sides: The former pursues moderation, while the latter focus more on preciseness.

To be a wise person, maybe we should not be attached to one thinking, and should never reject another kind of thought.

赵迎汐，0213700980

    Before watching “Very British Problems”, I thought British, one of the western nations, were passionate, extroverted, polite, and at least not as shy as Chinese. Yet through their real thoughts in this documentary, it appears that they are struggling with social communication, that they have abundant embarrassing experiences as we do, and that sometimes they don’t mean sorry when they say “sorry”. Therefore, you can never tell what British culture is like by simply interacting with British people, or you will just find they are nice and friendly without knowing their true feelings. I think that’s why we need to learn about different cultures. Only by doing so can we avoid offending people from other nations and lubricate our communication with them.

陈安妮 0213700950

As my major is Japanese, when I watched this documentary, I was surprised to feel so many similarities between the British and Japanese people.

British and Japanese people are known for their orderliness and politeness. Also, their societies are civilized and well organized. At the same time, they can also be criticized for being overly hypocritical. They are both conscious of their personal space and are not inclined to talk to strangers. Their feelings are not very outward and rarely get emotionally charged.

However, people from countries like the British and the Japanese, who are extremely socially and emotionally restrained, in certain situations they also vent their emotions. In this documentary, we can see that the British are prone to road rage, not behaving like gentleman. The Japanese, on the other hand, will like to go for drink after work and sometimes lose control in public.

Perhaps it is the similar island environment that gives these two countries’ people, who are so far apart, have similarity in character. I think that maybe this is the reason why we need to learn about multiculturalism. By being exposed to other cultures we can discover some of the traits that are common to all human beings. Also in this way, we can step out of our inherited environment and look at our own cultural objectively from a more macro perspective.

Last week in class we watched the first episode of an English documentary “Very British Problems”. We got to get a glimpse of English culture, especially its social etiquette. It’s quite interesting that we, as young people in China, also relate to many “English problems” despite the very different culture we have. For example, we all find it awkward to run a conversation with strangers like taxi drivers or dentists. We all find it hard to ask for an acquaintance’s name in the middle of a conversation. And we all pick up different accents when speaking with different people due to our diverse dialects. Besides, the documentary is very entertaining in that, in a complaint tone, the guests depict British lives vividly for us.

The documentary shows us most of the British people's behaviors and habits in social situations or daily life. The documentary vividly portrays the image and psychology of the British. And the narration and complaints hit the key precisely, which made me laugh out loud as I watched.

In the documentary, the reactions or mental activities of the British in certain situations resonated with me. This made me realize that even though people live in different cultural backgrounds, they have similar ways of thinking when facing some problems. For example, social barriers, social fears, I will also encounter similar problems in my life.

 Intercultural communication is precisely the communication between people from different cultural backgrounds. It is conceivable that there will be various problems. Cultural differences will directly affect cross-cultural  communication. I think seeking common ground while reserving differences and respecting each other’s behavior and habits are the most important. Overcoming the adverse effects of cultural differences and actively and effectively conducting cross-cultural communication can increase people's sensitivity to different cultural backgrounds and enable individuals to better accept different views from their own.

When the documentary Very British Problems made us all laugh out, it struck me that I might be one of the British as well because many of those awkward moments seem to occur in my own life quite often too. For example, we don’t really expect our guests to stay too long in our house when we invite them to do so. Or, sometimes we’re just too polite to stop discourteous queue-jumpers.

But of course I am not a British. Different fabrics of cultures are blessed with their own fascinating patterns, yet, there must be something in common, I believe. The Chinese, inculcated with Confucianism for thousands of years, have always shone spotlight on benevolence and peace. And the British, with the noble spirit, are said to take pride in being a gentleman. So when it comes to circumstances like what I mentioned above, most of us just tend to behave nicely, gently, and hospitably.

And thanks to globalization, we are sharing more and more similarities among diversified cultures. In the past, we often talked about cultural shock which was much about conflicts; but today, I see more of cultural integration.

In fact, I’m more interested that in Chinese culture or etiquette, habits may have the same common ground as the British in the documentary. The British, out of politeness (or to avoid embarrassment), often do not ask the name of the person they are talking to when they forget his or her name, they just cover it up. And this is often the case among young Chinese today. For example, I was greeted by someone who I couldn't remember her name, but I pretended to know her very well and chatted with her to carry on the conversation. In fact, this kind of action to avoid embarrassment is also another kind of respect - unspoken respect; another example is that the British are also afraid to talk to their neighbors, there must be no difference by this situation in China. Especially live more and more Chinese in Commercial housing communities. The bond between neighborhood is already invisible. Do not chat in the elevator! That will make the whole atmosphere freezing! Of course, suddenly telling a cold joke is also not a good choice. LOL.

钟子轩 0213701107

After watching this documentary "Very British Problems", I am surprised that the British can came up with so many interesting, creative and in the meantime “very british” ways, just to avoid some social communication. It is also very cute that the interviewees can share their hilarious experiences without reservation. 

I wonder why the British are socially reluctant and grim. It may have something to do with England’s geographical conditions. The North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate England from continental Europe. The cloudy and raining climate also go against the formation of an outgoing character. So based on my understanding, every national or cultural characteristic didn’t appear out of nowhere. There must be reasons behind it. And when we notice and understand those reasons, we can deal with culture shock more properly, cross-cultural communication would also become easier for us.

In my opinion, the best word to sum up the general character of British people is "social phobia". This is not however derogatory, but a description that I extract from the video. The majority, if not all, of British people are, so to speak, afraid of "awkwardness", of contacting strangers, of entering into dialogues with interlocutors they do not know well, of seeing their private space invaded by those whom they do not know much about or who don’t have their admission. On Chinese social media recently we have talked much about a term that quite a few young adults, especially Gen Z cannot agree more - the phenomenon of "social phobia." Compared to our parents or grandparents, it is clear that young people nowadays prefer to staying alone at home rather than going out with people we hardly know, living alone rather than mingling in a community. We avoid all kinds of unnecessary connections with our acquaintance, and therefore, avoid “awkwardness”. So I wonder if this inclination, in some way stereotypic, is 100 % British-Only, or if it is an unavoidable result of industrial development.

Very British problems. When I saw the name of this documentary, for a minute I thought we were going to talk about British food, which is indeed problematic. What we did watch, however, was much more worth talking about.

I tend to think of foreigners as other species, however well I understand their languages. Nevertheless, when I saw the Brits struggling with gift giving, tormented by awkwardness in public transport and desperate at the thought of making small talk, as much as I feel sorry for their traumatizing experience, I found them more human than ever. No less than the British, Chinese people hate having to talk to strangers, greeting distant relatives and watching the Spring Festival Gala. 

However, also like in Britain, these problems only upset part of the population, especially the young. When half of us are complaining about some traditions and embarrassing social codes, there must be another half sticking to them. The talkative lady on the bus, the over-caring hair-dresser and the mother who loves saying “Merry Christmas”, don’t we forget, are also 100% British. For their awkward victims like us, more time is needed to get more people on board. Therefore, to all young members of “anti-social social club”, our time has not come yet, but hope is on its way.

陈幸儿 0213701102

The hidden codes and prompts people in different countries somehow inherently recognize and understand lie in everywhere in people’s lives, which then lead to different cultural traits, like in the aspect of accent, queueing and even the way of saying sorry and thank you etc. as present in Very British Problems. However, culture shock, to some extent, play a positive role in cross-culture communication since the world should be a colorful one instead of a homogenous world. It is the differences and various traits that contribute to the fantasy and beauty. Fei Xiao-Tong, the famous sociologist, once said that we need to uphold the beauty of each civilization and the diversity of civilizations in the world(美美与共，天下大同). Each civilization is the crystallization of human creation and each is beautiful in its own way. Therefore, if people in other countries are forced to change their original mentalities and absorbed themselves in other cultures and accept, it is no point for the spreading of their own culture worldwide, not to mention effective exchanges. We have to yet admit that the gap between different cultures causes barriers for communication, while adapting homogenous to overcome the so-called barriers for a smoother communication is not a wise option. Instead, it is highly recommended to look for other alternatives to handle with the problems. At least, it is not totally accepting other cultural traits silently and even making culture shock disappear.

高伟华   0213700974

Last Thursday we watched the documentary "Very British Problems" that is focused on some stereotypical images of British People. 

This video reminds me of my experience in France. When I was in France as an exchange student, I always had curious French friends who asked me some questions about Chinese social and cultural life. I always answered their questions patiently. But sometimes it was hard to avoid some embarrassing questions. For example, a classmate asked me if I ate dog. Honestly, I felt that the question was a little offensive to me, but I tried to answer it gently. Because I really didn't want my french classmates to think wrongly that all the Chinese eat dog. 

Many similar situations had taught me a truth: stereotypes are hard to dispel. People often need to spend much more time to mitigate the negative effects of stereotypes. It also let me understand the complexity and the importance of cross-cultural communication: because there are many misunderstandings, it is necessary for the translator to assist in efficient and accurate translation. This is also what I think is the most important thing as an interpreter. Through the translation, we can across cultural barriers to strengthen the connection between human beings. 

姓名：任梦想       学号：0213701105

In the first few minutes of watching "Very British Problems", I felt shocked at the undercurrents behind the "British etiquette". In the documentary, to maintain a kind of "politeness", British try hard to hide their akwardness or even pettiness, which is unnecessary and strange in my opinion. But gradually I realized that this feeling is exactly so-called "culture shock" and it is the different environments that shape we two peoples are.

  At the same time I was reminded of the significance of understanding one's culture before entering it, otherwise any innocent behaviors may be regarded as rude or offensive. And it is arrogant to comment on another culture without knowing it and considering culture difference, just as I did at the beginning.

阮敏芝 0213700965

姓名：邹念廷 学号：0213701001 

 I did experience culture shock vicariously through watching Very British Problem. What surprised me most was company's tea-time culture in which Brits can't accept that if their colleagues go make a cup of tea without making one for them. Even though different cultures, of course, share great differences, but similarity also exists, for example, avoiding talking to people, I can definitely relate to it.

  One of the things I gain from this video is becoming more aware of the importance of the saying "Do as Romans do". If one is going to live in a new culture, the best way to reduce the likelihood of cultural misunderstanding is to learn about the new traditions first and it also helps one adapt to their new life happily and faster, otherwise, your colleagues might assume you as not so friendly.

黄睿 0213701086

A reflection of video——the Very British Problem

 What i want to say first is that, undoubtedly, this video shows us not only the most vivid culture but also the most real local conditions and customs of the Scenic Island——Great Britain. As a student who is learning Japanese-Chinese interpretation, I found that there are many similarities between Japanese and English culture. For instance,people from these two countries are both cautious when they communicate with others, even with the closest friends. On the other hand,however, I think the way this video used in making a point is a bit unconvincing. In my opinion,all these people express their ideas exaggeratedly and one-sided,basing on no more than their own experience. This make me afraid of that if I had already taken some stereotypes as common senses.

        Very British Problems is a documentary focusing on some observations of British people’s life. It’s real and detailed that a group of British people complain about some awkward situations they face. For example, a person said, the worst thing on a train is bumping into someone you know and you’ve got two hours of polite conversation. I have the same feelings because sometimes I am too shy or not confident enough to start a conversation even with my classmates. However, if we are too afraid of speaking to others, maybe we suffer the social anxiety disorder, which needs to be overcome. The reason seems to be explicit: with the development of technology and the whole society, people pay more attention to their inner world and they are not so willing to make social connections with others.

        In this documentary, British people face some situations that make them feel not good. However, they pretend that they do not care about them and can handle them smoothly. At this point, Chinese people take the same attitude because we always recognize ourselves as friendly. Still, there are many differences between Chinese culture and British culture. British people are more directly compared with us. “Have a nice day!”, but as Virginia-born Rich Hall pointed out, that could never work, “Most Brits see right through that because they know it's not possible to have a nice day.” If we step into the British culture without any preparation, we will be in the trap of culture shock and not understand what they are talking or even laughing about. 

        In the several seasons, I find that the translation from English to Chinese is easy for us to understand but it still can be improved to be more in line with the Chinese thinking mode. As a student majoring in translation, we need to deeply understand cultural differences and improve our intercultural translation skills so as to help people better appreciate the beauty of different culture.

After watching the documentary which is called Very British Problems, I found out that in British culture people also face some embarrassing moments which seems to be difficult to avoid when reacting with others. In our country such things happen too, for instance, people encounter difficulties when saying goodbye — they repeat their goodbyes over and over again in order to show their hospitality and politeness, which is completely unnecessary, causes a waste of time and makes both sides rather embarrassed. British people, alike some of us, tend to solve this problem by protecting themselves from all kinds of contacts with others. I couldn't comment this as a wise way, because it would be better if everyone learns how to communicate with others without embarrassing people. After all, communicating skills are quite crucial and cannot be left behind even in today's society.

佘能轩 0213701076

Last week we watched the documentary "Very British Problems". Through this film, I realized how much emphasis the British people put on social distance and personal privacy. In fact, I’d say some of the problems the documentary mentioned are not “very British”. At least for me, some of the scenes were not new. For example, when get into a cab, I too used to put on my headphones to avoid the driver talking to me.

However, the British always perform so polite that it can be difficult to understand their true intentions. To avoid conflicts in cross-cultural communication, it is surely important to learn about different cultures.

Culture shock is the way you react and feel when the cultural cues you know so well from home are lacking. In our daily lives each of us knows how to perform a myriad of activities on any particular day in an amazingly efficient manner. We can shower, get dressed, make it to campus, grab a coffee, go to the library, research and photocopy, print out a paper, go to class, pick up a few groceries and get back home without thinking about any of these tasks. We know when to j-walk without comtemplating. We know how to interpret motives when someone runs into us–was it a dangerous encounter, impolite gesture or simply an accident? When someone yells at us, we know how to analyze the situation and react whether it be out of anger, joy or frustration–all in a matter of seconds.

These activities all require cultural knowledge, and when you go to a new country you must learn to recognize normal behavior, interpret cultural signals, navigate the new rules, and react in an adult manner appropriate to that culture. Inexperience in the culture takes its toll on your psyche, and your reaction will be determined by your knowledge of that culture, your ability to observe people and your willingness to accept this new/different (but not better or worse) way of doing things.

 "VERY BRITISH PROBLEM" is shown in the form of a documentary,but  it is more interesting than a comedy. Because when I was watching, I found that many things felt the same way, and couldn't help but laugh. This is too similar to some of the experiences I had come into contact with in real life.

I am Chinese, they are British, everyone is a different nationality and comes from a different country, but I did not expect that everyone still has a lot of similarities.

For example, one of them mentioned that when he meet someone he knows, he have to say hello inevitably. But in order not to talk to others, he will avoid him, take a long way, or lower their heads to play with their mobile phones, pretending not to see them. I do this often.

In this film, there are some things I haven't heard of before, which will make British people uncomfortable, so I understand that in communicating with foreigners, cultural factors are very important, and it is best to understand his cultural background.

林志颖 0213701138

There are a lot of things at which the British excel; things such as close-order drill, building ocean liners, creating empires and, of course, queuing. However, one thing that the British do, perhaps better than any other nation, is self-deprecating humor. Perhaps other nationalities are too insecure in their national pride to permit their people to poke fun at themselves. Other nationalities make jokes about foreigners. However, the British are sufficiently secure in their national pride to have no qualms about ridiculing their own inadequacies before the entire world. 

The Series examines some quarks prominent in British culture, but you don't have to be British to relate to many of the annoyances that they bring up. I find myself identifying with a lot of the topics brought up. 

After seeing the video, I was astonished because I never thought British people would behave that way. Most of them elude talking with strangers and those who they don’t know very well. Some of their traits are similar to mine, like hate talking to taxi drivers. But some appear a little strict, at least for me. For example, they don’t like others using their refrigerators and that might ruin their friendship! I couldn’t imagine getting along with such people. Befriending them is  totally a tiring disaster for a Chinese like me. I’d rather end that relationship than keeping it with caution. 

Also, I realized it’s not them to blame. It’s national characteristics, which influences the personality of its people profoundly. As far as I know, Japanese are over polite, they like finding mistakes in themselves, thus they are often plagued with depression. I have similar feelings towards people in South Korean due to their movies, to be specific, Parasite. It really oppressed me. 

Now I feel proud and lucky to be a Chinese, our national characteristics are just marvelous！

Meanwhile, I’m tremendously curious about how these national characteristics got shaped. I wonder the origin.

英语笔译三班-王佳慧

Reflections on Culture Shock in Cross-cultural Communication

英语口译一班

张宏宇

0213700012

    “Culture shock refers to feelings of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people may experience when moving to a new country or experiencing a new culture or surroundings” (Investopedia, 2021). Although culture shock by its definition involves negative feelings, I may argue that to some extent it is conducive for people with less international exposure to better understand certain new cultures.

    Firstly, culture shock gets people to learn about unfamiliar or even unknown cultural elements. Through watching the documentaries, I have encountered many British cultural stories, ranging from the interesting emotional changes when people are holding doors for others to failure to deal with people who don’t queue properly and from the feeling of anger and confusion about tipping to obsession with the need to apologise. Beneath these visible behavior patterns lies some core values and traits of British culture. For instance, people in the UK may attach great importance to politeness in public to the extent they sometimes get bothered by the complex process of holding doors for others. Their negative feelings about tipping can derive from their emphasis on fairness. Hence, the documentaries allow me to learn about British culture from multiple dimensions and different layers.

    Secondly, culture shock can deepen and add to people’s understanding of cultural concepts that they have learned about. Cultural shock experiences can in many cases leave people with a deep impression of certain cultural elements as they tend to better memorize feelings, stories, and experiences. For instance, I learned the Business Etiquette course in which western etiquette related to handshakes was taught in my senior year. At that time, the order of handshakes, the timing of handshakes, and the way to extend your hand before handshakes were all emphasized. However, I have never thought about how firm a handshake should be and how important it is to British people until I watched the documentaries. Therefore, the documentaries have enhanced my understanding of handshakes in Britain. Another example comes from my study abroad experience. On the very first day, I went to Los Angeles as an exchange student during my college years, I took a Metro line and filmed a short video of the beautiful scenery out of the window. Accidentally, my camera flipped over a lady sitting not far away from me, and immediately she started to grumble about me for filming her accidentally. As I respect people’s privacy, especially I was in the US at that time, I made an apology to her and deleted the video right after that. Such an experience teaches me a lesson of how American people may showcase their great concerns about privacy and thus deepened my understanding of privacy in the US.

    Overall, with the aforementioned two reasons, I maintain that culture shock can be a blessing in disguise and may indeed enrich people’s understanding of certain unfamiliar cultures.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/culture-shock.asp

I major in Japanese, so when I was watching the documentary, I also considered what Japanese people might do when they have to greet one another. My girlfriend once told me that almost every time she took the elevator in Osaka, Japanese people would greet her, saying something like "What a sunny day!", even though they were strangers. But after such greetings, no one said any words any longer. I think although people may not be very good at communicating with strangers, they still want to show politeness and friendliness to others. And I believe it's quite common among people all over the world, including the British in the documentary, and of course, us, Chinese people. We are language learners, so we must know about the culture or customs of people who speak the language we're learning. Maybe there're differences between ours and theirs, but I think we should respect one another, trying to commmunicate with others in the way that won't make them worried, even though communicating with them may make us worried.

陈申 0213701083

    Very British Problem is a delightful comedy series that talks about British people’s peculiarities and problems with a self-deprecating humor. One of the narrators call themselves the “island race”, following comedians’ jokes about the “social anxiety phobia” and awkward moments of British people. The whole class quite enjoy the satire and irony, however, this material is definitely not appropriate for someone that are not familiar with Britain and western culture at all, because it might mislead audience to further stereotypes and make them falsely feel that all these jokes are serious and true.

    In a sense, these jokes are showing a true side of British people, they love humor, self-deprecating jokes, and their national culture is much more individual-oriented. Western cultures, including British culture, usually value privacy and individual spirit, therefore they seem to have “social phobia” for preferring being alone and respecting personal space.

    After the show, I also found out that some of the Very British Problems are actually universal, and I believe this is a part of showing culture is both national and universal. The most obviously example is that “social phobia(社恐)” is also a viral word online among Chinese young people, and we find the “Very British problems” and awkward moments relatable because we also went through these feelings in social events.

梁司颖

0213701019

英语口译二班

Different nations have different culture traits. It is hard to say which of these traits is better and which is worse, since these are just part of the civilization of different nations. When facing people from foreign countries , basically we must act properly and give respect to others’ culture. But today I want to discuss the reasons for the cultural differences between Chinese and English.

In general, I think that the differences of culture traits are caused by natural conditions, group consciousness and social identity. Among these three factors, natural conditions are the most essential one, which is determined to people’s way of production and life style. As we all known, Britain has a temperate maritime climate, the weather changes all day long, so British people always take an umbrella with them when they go out. And since the weather is hard to predict, it is much better to stay at home and enjoy private time. I guess that’s why British people are not good at communicate with others. But China has a temperate monsoon climate, the weather in China is not so changeable as that in Britain, so people have more chances to go out and communicate with others.

As for group consciousness, people have a herd mentality, which means that they tent to act like others do. So people from the same culture often take the same actions. Over time, differences in the behavior of different cultural groups have become fixed and difficult to change.

Finally, social identity provides the basis for individual behavior. For example, it is normal for Chinese people to to ask others’ privacy such as salary and family relationship, which is hard to imagine in Britain. That’s because in Chinese culture, asking one’s privacy means caring for each other.

In conclusion, I think learning culture traits of different nations is very interesting, and it also helps us understand our own culture better.

     I am Uygur which is an ethnic minority group of China. Because of this special identity, I think cultural shock is very familiar to me, so I want raise some interesting examples to convey my understanding to this concept. Most of Uygur believe in Islam, so we are not allowed to eat pig. Cultural shock happens every time when I go out to eat with my “new” friends who are not Uygur. But in this situation, my friends often choose to respect my eating habits. Another example is that Uygur have the different naming convention. For example, my name is Remila·Tayier. Remila is my given name and Tayier is my father’s name as well as my first name. So it is awkward when there is someone calling me TAYIER! I still remember that my principal of college called me Tayier at the graduation ceremony.

热米拉 0213300977

After watching the amusing documentary, it occurs to me that there is an interesting echo between the British and Chinese people. Chinese people are invariably regarded as humble and polite, likewise, the British are labelled as gentlemen and ladies.

But what the documentary conveys is actually somewhat unexpected for those with a stereotype of the British.

If someone crosses the line and irritates them, although the British maybe are rolling their eyes inside, he may be completely unaware of his rudeness because they won’t register displeasure and instead pretend that they are fine with it. I presume it’s a congenital control shared by the British and Chinese people over negative feelings to eschew conflicts, because we just don’t want to ruin our long-preserved grace.

刘芳琳 0213701037

The documentary Very British Problems chronicles the oddball behaviors and cultural quirks of Britons, such as unnecessary apology and an obsessive interest in correct queuing etiquette. Honestly, the documentary itself is a cultural shock to me since Britons don't feel awkward of their terrible social skills. They can just say "Yeah, I'm weird, so what?". But I can't. And for most of the time, I choose to pretend to be a people person.

Suppose that we move to a new country or go aboard for a vacation, we may easily feel shocked at those different behaviors. And this is cultural shock. Many researchers have written about culture shock and it is widely recognized that there are four different stages to the process–honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment and adaptation. Like it or not, culture shock is inevitable when experiencing a different culture. Therefore, when we suffer from culture shock, always remember that it's normal and keep an open mind. By accepting it for what it is and finding ways to cope with it, we can prevent culture shock from keeping us down in the dumps and enjoy the new life.

余虹村  0213700972

It is now easier for us to travel to other countries to appreicate different cultures and what is inevitable is the embarrassment we may undergo when conversing with the locals. I will not shed light on the concept of culture shock as classmates before have spilled much ink on it and some awkward moments they have experienced in daily life. I think reflections on a certian topic underpin relevant efforts. In this context, we have already known how unspeakable it is to experience culture shock. Thus, what requires is the accomodation and respect of some clumsy words or behaviours from others. If most of us deal with others like this, entering a new culture and assimilating cultural codes will never be awkward any more. 

王顾民 0213701013

After watching two episodes of the Very British Problems, I felt shocked to learn that some cultural characteristics are not exclusive to a single country but a commonplace in many nations all over the world.

“From our adherence to strict, unwritten rules of behaviour, to our awkward social interactions, we have a horror of offending and an infinite capacity for embarrassment”. In the interaction with others, such as greetings, hiding greetings, talking with someone whose name escapes us, co-inhabiting with neighbors, treating guests, chatting in taxi, laughing when we’re reluctant to talk or don’t know how to response, apologizing and so on, we all want to try our best to avoid a conversation with others for many times. It’s quite funny to find that we human beings, born and raised in different countries, all share some same personalities and emotions. I think it’s a synonym of resonance. In such a community of shared future for mankind, it’s conducive to promoting global cultural and people-to-people exchanges though we have different cultural backgrounds. The documentary also inspires me, for us would-be translators and interpreters, it’s a must to dig into Chinese culture and Western cultures and transcend the cross-cultural disparity.

张惠兰 0213700992

   After watching the documentary "Very British Problems", I have a feeling that we are fooled by stereotypical images. Seemingly, all of us know that British men are gentlemen. And umbrella is a symbol of their gentility. However, few of us realize that British avoid social communication. Knowing that is of vital importance. As we all know, we live in an era of globalization. It's a common thing to work or live with foreigners. If we have no idea of cultural difference, we may have trouble in dealing with them. 

    In my opinion, we'd better observe the foreigners first. The information you look up may not be correct. Besides, when we meet a foreigner, sometimes we have a stereotype. We need to break it. Observation will help us. When you really know his/her characteristic, you can figure out how to communicate with him/her.

    Cultural shocks and cultural conflicts are the consequences of globalization. Just like globalization, cultural shocks and cultural conflicts are also inevitable. All we could do is to overcome it. Communication usually refers to greetings and chats, but it also refers to silence on occasion. For example, you can greet Chinese on the road but keep silent in a British subway. 

孙梦云 0213700998

I am a Chinese, born and raised in China. But when I watched the documentary, I didn’t feel culturally shocked or surprised, (though the way the documentary presents the “problems” is very entertaining). Instead, I felt very familiar with all these problems, because most of them exist in my life. And based on the fact that these problems (such as don’t know how to keep a sound relationship with neighbors and don’t know how to treat friends who don’t respect your boundary; … ) are commonly seen and heatedly discussed on Weibo, douban.com and other social media, I bet these problems are also problems of most Chinese people. Maybe, they are also the problems of people in other countries. 

So what are the problems? In my opinions, these problems all fall into the category of “face-to-face communication with people outside family”. (I guess there may be another documentary to explain the in-family problems named “the very British family problems”.) In the video, British people said they felt troubled by the talkative taxi driver and hair dresser. They didn’t know whether to say hi to a neighbor across the block, or an acquaintance on the same train or elevator with them. They also gave some tips about how to get rid of a talk with people by pretending that they had to answer an important phone call. In the above cases, what they want to do is to avoid  communication with people in front of them. They have no interest in these people.

But why? It is a common wisdom that human beings are social animal. why the British troubled people and their Chinese counterparts want to avoid communication? Would people in the 20th century want to do the same thing? I have no idea for the second question. But for the first one, I have a guess. Maybe it is because people today are used to online communication, and their desire to communicate with others are already satisfied by the increasingly advanced and accessible internet. Therefore, their desire to communicate with people offline get lower.

For myself, these problems, whether titled as very Chinese or very British, don’t trouble me. It’s always simple to get oneself out of the problems. Don’t want to talk with someone talkative? Tell them, but politely and clearly. Don’t want to say hi? Then just don’t. I believe all the seemingly troubled interviewees in the video know these solutions. But they won’t use them. Because that will create a image of indifference and unfriendliness. The interviewees are indifferent and unfriendly, but they want to show themselves as cordial and friendly. In my eye, it is hypocrisy and “拧巴” in Chinese. And it pays little respect to oneself and the one who he is unwillingly communicating with.

Though our topic is culture shock on cross-cultural communication, the documentary we watched didn’t strike me as too surprising. In fact, I find that Chinese and British people share a few things in common. For example, we all attach great importance to politeness.

Nevertheless, in terms of small talk and social boundaries, British people are more restrained and withdrawn, as exemplified by the actor Stephen Mangan saying he would avoid his neighbors as much as possible. On the other hand, as the Chinese saying goes, a good neighbor is better than a brother far off, Chinese people believe it necessary and polite to be (sometimes overly) hospitable towards neighbors (“Say Hi to your auntie/uncle! Come on in and have a cup of tea!” But this auntie/uncle is only a neighbor who sometimes plays mahjong with my mom).

I don’t know whether it’s good or not, but admit it, to younger generations to whom the most familiar strangers are deliverymen, we are becoming more like Britons. To this day, I still don’t know the surname of the family next door.

It's common for nations hold profoundly different perceptions and evaluations of certain behaviors since each was shaped by its own history and culture. Yet another phenomenon worth noting is that as globalization and communication technology advanced in recent years, nations are interconnected and therefore appear more similar rather than distinct. 

In cross-cultural communication course I once had in undergraduate years, prominent examples of culture shocks such as guasha is no longer considered abuse, rather, it has gained traction among westerners. The contrast of collectivism and individualism has also phased out as more youngsters in China come to value their own feelings and their counterparts in the West also tend to focus on the community they live in.

To sum up, the gulf of cultural difference is destined to narrow under the wave of globalization and interconnection.

李艺 0213701020

The documentary showed some daily troubles of British people, like being in a conversation where you don’t know the other people’s name or how to greet others. I don’t think these are just British’s problems, they just happen in our daily lives. For example, it is commonly recognized that Chinese people are warm and friendly, but the young generation places much value on private space. So it is better for guests to leave in time.

We may say that lots of people are trapped by rules of social behavior, but expressing honest emotions and real thoughts is too risky. However, I think we should be the ones to learn to distinguish between people’s real emotions and try to avoid creating awkward situations. Maybe one day we will change the inflexible social rules.

0213701122 王莎莎

I enjoyed this documentary a lot, but as least what is presented in the documentary is no surprise to me. I personally have encountered a lot of similar situations and I have done the same thing just like them. For example I once pretended that I needed to deal with something very urgent to get myself out of a seemly endless conversation. So I think when it comes to things like etiquette it actually not very hard for us to behave properly when we are in a cross-cultural communication. 

But there are cultural differences that are very shocking to me. For example when the virus started to spread over Europe, I was in Barcelona. While all my Chinese friends were doing everything possible to get masks, my Spanish friends thought we were overreacting and even invite me to go to the night club with them. When I was walking down the street with my mask on, literally everyone was staring at me, which is something that I had never experienced in my life. And other things that make me confused sometimes would be their take on quarantine, how they think of there government etc. I think things like this do requiere us to a lot of investigation before we stop feeling shocked when we  are dealing with people from other countries. 

车梦晖 0213701132

     Though documentary, it shows several very british problems in terms of social contact, work, holiday and daily life. To sum up, British peole are not versed in communicating with people and expressing their feeling directly. Because of rule-obsessed feature, they are afraid of being rude. Thus, British people make efforts to sidestep any prospect of causing conflicts and make an apology at first.  Besides that, it is much better for them to stay at home, which leads them to pay much attention to personal space. 

      Such characteristics are quite different from Chinese people who are apt to communicate with others and invite people to have dinner in order to show their hospitality. However, British people and Chinese people have still have common in some aspects. For instance, both of them dislike compliment for fear of being supercilious. And, they always like beating about the bush without expressing meaning directly. Anyway, it is such unique personality that can distinguish British people from other. Different countries have different culture. What we can do is just to accept and undertand it. 

     范文君 0213100941

The documentary Very British Problem is a very humorous clip which shows some of the “annoyances”of being British people. It displays not only some British cultural norms and some cultural shocks other foreigners brought to the British, but also some of the taboos that make the British gentlemen and ladies get upset and frustrated. Just as the documentary said at the beginning: “ I don’t know why I do that but I do that all the time (as the VBP shows).” Through the self-depreciation languages, I can clearly see the real psychology under the stereotype of “gentlemen and ladies” and have a more clearer understanding of the British culture. 

But these problems,like embarrassing social interactions, are not only British problems, but also exists in Chinese culture, especially on being polite. Though influenced by different cultures, like “courtesy” in China and “gentleman or lady culture”in Britain，we behave in the same norm of being polite and caring for others more than for ourselves. And actually I think that’s great for cross-cultural communication, because look, we understand each others’ feelings.

Sometimes cultural shocks not only shock people people in foreign countries but also to some degree “shock” the natives. When I was in America for summer school and came across a classmate from France (we were familiar with each other before because we accomplished a pre-class project together on the Internet), though I clearly know that French people have a greeting habit of “bisous”, I was still being stiff when I really encountered that. And that made the girl felt a little embarrassed as if she was the one who greeted to the wrong person. For a long time when she wanted to greet me, I could see the attempt to control herself from greeting that way. 

What I want to say about cultural shock and cross-cultural communication is, no matter which side it is, people always want to leave a great impression on other, especially greetings. Sometimes just knowing what kind of cultural habits people have is not enough, a better way is to understand why they have such kind of habits. Knowing why they have such habits and understanding their culture thoroughly has two advantages. It helps you reduce the discomfort it may bring. Think in other people’s shoes or at least try you give yourself a reason not to get angry. The second one is you learn why some of your habits may discomfort them. It is something bilateral. You show your respect to them and they give their greatest enthusiasm and kindness to their foreign guests.

The term culture shock is used to describe the anxiety incurred when a person moves to a new environment, expressing the lack of direction, the feeling of not knowing what to do or how to do things in a new environment, and not knowing what is appropriate or inappropriate. It is something we all have experienced in one way or another. Cultural shock is a phenomenon arising from cross-cultural communication, which is inevitable in some degree. Be aware of cultural differences is not only a cultural learning but also a personal growth and personal experience enrichment, thus strengthening intercultural communication competence and facilitating a smooth adaptation. Culture shock is in some degree inevitable and is the occupational hazard of overseas living through which one has to be willing to go through in order to enjoy the pleasures of experiencing other countries and cultures.The experience of culture shock is the process of adjustment. Apart from the physical environment reasons such as food, transportation and climate, the hidden differences in culture pattern and value deserves more attention. The more sensitively people are aware of or quicker in recognizing how and when cultural values and behaviors are likely to come in conflict, the easier it becomes to make adjustments that contributes a smooth adaptation. Being aware of the cultural differences is a part of the cultural learning and personal growth.

          谷浩  0213701075

Actually I was always impressed by the various kinds of culture existing in the world and that’s also the reason why I am fascinated by foreign languages. Culture is the symbol of a nation. Since we are all living in the different regions of the world, the distinctions of cultures between different countries become so natural and right. I have a tendency to observe and conclude the characteristics of different nations. From the minor part, Focus can be placed on such details like a behavior and words. From the  larger part, the whole national thoughts and characteristics are also playing an important role in the process of observation.

I don’t want to pay much analysis on the “culture shock” because I think understanding should always be placed on the first place when we try to set foot on a foreign country, no matter in real life or just on the internet. Shock can always exist if we refuse to start thinking in other people’ shoes. Of course, understanding different cultures is important, but it doesn’t represent that we should make ourself uncomfortable in the strange environment. Showing our respect for others would help us better fit into the foreign environment. When one day we cannot feel the shock from the certain culture, it shows our familiarity and understanding of it.

张影影

0213701124

    Culture, is a word or concept we often use in discussion, even though we seldom have a consensus of what its meaning really is. To discuss cross-cultural communication, we must take a glimpse of the implication of culture. Here, I would like to see it from the perspective of functionalists. In the light of the functional theory, culture is “the entire setting of norms and convention an individual as a number of his society must know in order to be like everybody - or to be able to be different from everybody.” (Vermeer 1987a:28)

    From the definition above, we can see that it is culture that shapes the symbols(not limited to verbal symbols) we use in communication. Vermeer terms cultural features as “culturemes”. The culturemes may be different in form but similar in function or vice versa. In cross-cultural communication, the former may cause confusion, but the latter is likely to cause misunderstanding. Like what we discussed in class, the British and the Chinese each have their unique set of behaviours and social codes. When people from these two cultures trying to communicate, they may easily get each other wrong if they do not know the other’s culturemes.

吴国艳 

0203701036

英语口译2班

       The documentary Very British Problems discloses the inner world of British people, especially focusing on the common awkwardness they experience on a daily basis in their social life. Interestingly, as a Chinese, I didn’t find those British social etiquette quite eccentric or exotic. After having exchanges with friends, we, the so-called Z-generation, think it’s more like universal feelings. Why is that? 

       First of all, the rapid development and popularization of internet may play a role in uniting people all over the world and navigate us through cultural shock which should have been quite annoying. According to Investopedia, cultural shock refers to feelings of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people may experience when moving to a new country or experiencing a new culture or surroundings. But in the information age, advanced internet has already transformed the immense world in to a global village. Frequent exposure to foreign cultures in various forms, such as music, movies, soap operas and talk shows becomes a new normal. It’s hard for the young generation to stay totally ignorant of other cultures while surfing online all the time, and that cultivate our awareness of cultural diversity, which helps to mitigate cultural shock when we encounter new things. 

       More importantly, we’ve developed an increasing awareness of the commonness in humanity with globalization forging ahead. Most daily problems mentioned in that documentary, like how to greet others, how to avoid offense, or how to keep proper distance, actually can be ascribed to people’s universal confusion in how to strike a balance between personal privacy and interpersonal politeness. That is to say, those problems are not merely British at all. We can easily echo with their shyness or embarrassment in certain social situations based on our own life experiences. Since ancient times, China has been praised as a country whose people value etiquette highly. In our daily life, being nice and modest means a lot in interpersonal interactions, and sometimes are at the cost of personal privacy. We constantly find it so hard to say no towards other people, especially when we think it might make them upset that we tend to say something utterly against our will or make decisions we soon regrets. Therefore, those British problems seem just like our Chinese problems.

       In a nutshell, the development of information technology helps us handle cultural shock by offering us numerous accesses to learn other cultures and people’s lifestyles online, but in essence the key to protecting us from cultural shock is always showing empathy and mutual understanding.

After watching the documentary named Very British Problems, I was greatly amused by their unique styles and attitudes of life. To avoid embarrassment they could do almost everything, and sometimes that may lead to even bigger embarrassment. But besides the entertainment, there is still something left for us to think. For example, what is the key factor that causes the British too gentle to express their feelings or even just to chat with each other? This documentary used a charming and amusing way to describe and discuss this question. From what I see, it might be owed to their extreme pursuits of politeness and fairness, which seems to be common among the world, especially in some East Asia countries such as China and Japan. How could people, our human, share the same characteristics from such a distance? They are not only the problems of the British, but also of the humanity.

The documentary not only gives me great humor but also reminds me of my personal experience with culture shock. It happened when I was an undergraduate student. A close friend of mine once approached me for help. She was heartbroken by a French student. They went out for movies and meals a couple of times, and she pictured them as “in a relationship” in her mind. However, the guy had other opinions and never stopped dating other girls. Finding this out made her suffer, but his explanation was that they were just “dating”, no commitment was involved. Actually, this cultural difference is rather common in romantic relationships. Many Chinese couples usually meet first, then after having meals and going to the movies several times and call it a relationship, when the timing is right, they marry. But Westerners tends to do this differently. They don’t rush to start something solid with one particular person. Instead, they go out with different people and see the odds, this is the “dating” period, then when they find someone they want to have a go with, they begin to “seeing each other”, but this not the state for “boyfriends” and “girlfriends”, the next “relationship” period is. Then, when “love” is on the table, they might marry, but marriage is not that necessary as well. You can see the long way to commitment by far. So, my advice is, don’t fall in love with people from other cultures without being aware of the culture shocks.

杜潇颖 0213701016

A culture is a particular society or civilization, especially considered in relation to its beliefs, way of life and art. Cultures are diverse, by default, people from different countries or regions have totally different cultures. If we first arrive in another country or encounter someone from a different culture, we may sometimes experience the feeling of anxiety, loneliness and confusion. And this weird feeling is called cultural shock. As the process of globalization accelerating, we need to embrace various cultures and try our best to navigate through the feeling of cultural shock and change it into a positive one of cultural comfort, which calls for our ability to communicate with people from different cultures. However, it’s not about changing our culture to fit in others. It’s about having a global mindset, extending our cultural boundary and respect every culture and try to find the positive aspects of each culture.

郭亨玉 0213701053

The moment I laid my eyes on the screen and saw the title The Very British Problem, I couldn't help but smiled, for I've followed the cognominal producer of this documentary on Twitter for 6 years, and I could tell immediately what the 2-hour-long video had to offer: the common (and sometimes exaggerated) stereotypes of the British people, and the all-too-British self-mockery. To some extent, I got it right. As the film went on, it kept bringing me a sense of pleasant familiarity.

Truth to be told, I don't think the documentary would be too much of a culture shock for us; after all, the "British problems" presented in it are so typical that at times they seem to be closer to memes and even myths. I'm not saying that the film is poor in quality. Rather, it is well-made and definitely hilarious, and I would say the documentary as a whole is also reflection of the British culture, for self-deprecation has permeated every single frame of it. That, along with the fact that many Brits love the way it is, is actually what makes me surprised.

李颖怡 0213701006

After watching the videos, I am quite surprised as I never thought British people had a part of the personality that exactly resembles mine. 

I am not going to judge any outgoing or any private people, as I believe everybody can choose a way to live, even the difference of both teams can make a pretty good balance for the society. I personally think the reason of the world becoming more and more complicated in every aspect has caused to the etiquette in Britain (and becoming more common in other countries). As human interactions have been involved in all kinds of human activities and lately produced too many underground rules that can be mistaken by the communicators, that's why people sometimes would rather keep silent. Having said that, I am afraid this may lead to a lack of human love in the future when people just keep doing their own things and ignore the rest of the world.

Compared to China or some other Asian nations, people still tend to show care and love when they meet each other. Although sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, at least it still warms up the heart of those who seek for. I believe the etiquette shown in the videos just happens among a part of people in China while in Britain it is how the whole kingdom communicates. I am an introvert myself, but I enjoy seeing the world where people have different perspectives on life. 

PHAN, THI THANH VY 0217409012

During the last four years, I have learned something about the cultural differences. I studied teaching Chinese as a second language in my university, so I thought I was quite familiar with the ‘culture shook’ . 

However, after watching the very British problems, I find that the culture shook actually exists in almost every daily details. What I have learned was just a small part of it. For example, the British habit of saying “sorry” to everything is more surprising than I imagined before. 

I also find that some culture shook mentioned in the film has occurred among our young people. The account of the Very British Problems wrote a post few days ago, saying “To do: sort out everything/ scheduled for: another day/ status: tentative”. That is a common situation among ourselves. Also, many of us have severe social anxiety, so we seldom visit or even greet our neighbours when we meet them, just like the British. 

The humorous documentary introduces many “very British problems” such as the way of greeting, small talks and the awkwardness of chatting with others in their daily life. Actually, what shocked me most in the documentary are same experience I have when contacting with others, especially with strangers. For instance, when meeting someone I know in the street, I tend to pretend to be a phubber or find another way in order to avoid greeting. What I have experienced can be concluded by a buzz “social-phobia”, the popular topic among Gen Z in China. 

In the era of globalization, it is inevitable for us to encounter cultural shock during cross-cultural communications. Cultural traits shaped by history, geography and national identity create groups with different behaviors, etiquette and customs. Fortunately, the social platforms has not only lifted the veil on the unique characteristics of different nations, but also showed the similarity between them. It is important for us to respect the difference and at the same time pay attention to many similarity.

阎雪晗 0213700987

In my view, culture shock occurs when individuals move to a cultural environment which is different from their own. It can also describe the disorientation we feel when exposed to an unfamiliar way of life such as a visit to a new country, moving to another city or even encountering a person who behaves quite different in some regards from you. 

Speaking of culture shock, I want to talk about slurping. Almost all East Asian cultures slurp noodles, soup and other liquid diets. And in general, noodles have been eaten with a bit slurping noises in China. In many settings, to slurp is a sign of appreciation of food. While in western countries, people consider meal should be quiet even without talking and making noise, and deem slurping to be rude or annoying. Strangely and interestingly, I notice that Chinese people, especially the young girls, aren’t likely to make noise when eating in a restaurant. I wonder if it’s because the influence of western culture that eating without making noise is more polite and courteous or just the intention of controlling slurp.

0213700976 王惠

 I personally thought this video was interesting.While watching this documentary,i'm just like,nope…much of this one isn't paticular to the Brits.I think we all went through this.And personally speaking,i feel like these aren't very British problems,these are universal human problems .

 Cuz i just found that i have a lot common with them.There are a few examples that i absolutely agree.

 I am also very suspicious of the Spring Festival.Cuz i have to be slightly cheerier than normal even i'm not.As a matter of etiquette, you must pay a New Year visit to your relatives. At times like this, you have to pretend to be happy. Even if you just want to be alone and have a nice quiet Spring Festival holiday.

 What's more,when I walk down the street, I usually wear headphones to listen to music. This means i just want to immerse myself completely within my own world.That's my signal.So anyone who knows me well will know that i don't want to schmooze at times like this.But if some unfamiliar  person comes up to chat with me, then i will become unhappy but i don't show it.

 And i've always had a point，an excellent barber is one who does not talk while cutting hair.Cuz when I get my hair cut, I want a moment of peace. I don't want to join in the barber's conversation.

 As a foreign language major learner, we should think about how to deal with these culture shock phenomena skillfully in practical communication.

                                                                                                                              吴佳慧 0213701094

Differences between cultures will definitely lead to cultural shocks, which can be perceived easily, but difficult to solve even if we know each other’s languages. And as language-learning students, we are in the front line for witnessing and experiencing those culture shocks.

During my stay in Spain, one thing I spent lots of time getting used to were face kisses. Because the Chinese culture is the one of no contact, while the Spanish people enjoy the contact. I felt awkward at first and every time before doing that I had to prepare myself to perform naturally and to pretend that I was at ease. However, although it took me much time and effort to act like Spanish people, the whole process was really interesting because as a Chinese, I had the opportunity to experience the way of life of a Spanish.

This was an example of cultural shocks that had a good ending because I accepted the foreign culture and I was willing to do that. But there are also cases in which the two parts won't reach an agreement. Before we came back from abroad, the pandemic exploded in Madrid. For health concern, we started to wear masks when going outside. One of my friends encountered a man, who asked her peacefully why she was wearing a mask. So they exchanged their ideas about the pandemic and whether it’s a freedom or a must to put masks on our faces. Finally, they didn’t persuade each other at all, but they didn’t insult or belittle the other’s opinion, either. I think this is a perfect example that shows the respect for different opinions and cultures even if they don’t agree with each other. 

In most cases, we can't accept or fully understand other cultures, which is quite normal. But at least we can always hold a respectful attitude towards people and cultures that are totally different from us. Treat them with more curiosity than rejection when confronting things that we may consider as bizarre or exotic. The tolerance for diversity is essential.

Very British Problems

“Brits can’t great each other. We are terrible, we’re awkward, we’re clumsy, we’re rubbish at greeting.”

“I was once in an awful situation where I was talking to someone and had been talking to them for quite some time, and didn’t know their name.”

“You know when you try to avoid somebody and you pretend you’re on the phone...?”

“No! Course I don’t like chatting to cabbies. They don’t know the, sort of, rules. You have to keep it short and sweet and you know... not ranting.”

“When you’re on public transport, it’s such a confined space that you’re going to be making eye contact with someone, so you’ve got to just look around the person, and then you just look like a bit of a nutcase doing this with your eyes, just looking around everywhere.”

“It’s important to know one side and that side and then after that, you’re kind of on nodding terms and then everything else is just unknown.”

These are the OS (overlapping sounds) of British people in some basic social situations. After hearing their statements, I deeply feel that maybe I am a British in spiritual level. Because I also don’t know how to chat with strangers and am afraid to ask people’s names...

The socially awkward Brits suffer from a variety of very British problems. VBPs - concerning all aspects of talking to, or being in the vicinity of, other people.

When British go to other countries, they may suffer from culture shock. To more outgoing nations, a bus or train journey is the perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation and turn a stranger into a friend. But this may make British anxious because they think it’s not appropriate to start a conversation on public transport in England. “You’re on the train, or the bus, or the tube and there’s complete silence. If you spark up a conversation with someone, people look at you like you’ve lost the plot.”

So, we need to learn and understand other countries’ culture to avoid some awkward social interactions. A friend of mine once went to Kagoshima University in Japan for an exchange. She told me that she couldn’t wear short skirts above her knees in Japan, and couldn’t speak very loudly, or she would be embarrassed because Japanese people always speak softly.

In the face of culture shock, we should keep an open mind. Respecting others, trying to help others, and not giving them trouble are the basic communicative qualities.

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Understand and accept cultural differences

The Very British Problems is a British television series began on 13 August 2015. It mainly described some of the awkward social situations which are common to Brits, and how they tackle these “problems”. By watching it, one can really find the differences between different cultures and better understand people from different culture background. Here is an example.

One thing that really struck me and left a strong impression on me is, the Brits constantly struggle to avoid people by using some “clever” strategies. Pretending to have a phone call and be forced to leave a conversation is one of the strategies. In this situation, the Chinese, who are known as silent people; maybe are better at listening in preference to spitting out our points of view. But if unfortunately, we Chinese do get into a situation that we really don’t want to talk with someone, still we’ll do our best efforts to refrain ourselves and smile until the person finishes his words.

There is no value judgment here to say which way in such situation is better or more honest. The point here is to understand and accept the difference, so that when we are communicating with people from different culture, we’ll be more skillful or not feel be offended.

0213701080  袁霞

The fun and inspiring documentary Very British Problems shows the social awkwardness of British people. By watching the documentary, I find that people from different cultural backgrounds may experience similar social dilemmas. It resonated with me when the interviewees in the documentary talked about their experiences of taking taxis, because many Chinese taxi drivers are exactly the same as their British counterparts, who keep talking during the whole trip even if you don’t feel like talking at all.

Despite the Chinese and the British have similar social awkwardness, we still have different customs and social etiquette, which may lead to culture shocks. For example, the popular Japanese series Midnight Diner was remade into a Chinese version several years ago. Starring some famous actors and actresses, the Chinese version was not well-received by its audience for it’s not consistent with the food culture of China. A majority of Chinese people prefer to choose sidewalk snack booths for barbecue, hotpot, and so on rather than go to Izakayas for instant noodle. In my opinion, paying more attention to localization instead of simply copying the original setting may make a difference.

To conclude, people from different cultures share many similar feelings. However, we should take different customs and cultural backgrounds into consideration when it comes to cross-cultural communication so as to better suit the environment.

Culture shock refers to feelings of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people may experience when moving to a new country or experiencing a new culture or surroundings. This cultural adjustment is normal and is the result of being in an unfamiliar environment. It essentially means   a kind of conflict and contradiction between different cultures. In the video, many people may not get used to British accustoms and Britons, in the meantime, are surprised that foreigners can’t do well with local etiquettes or unwritten social rules, which brings some amusing and even ironic stories. In fact, culture shock exist in the whole world. Take China as an example. Due to the huge differences between different areas and ethnics, many people may strongly feel cultural shock when they leave the comfort of their home and familiar surroundings and move to an unfamiliar environment. This phenomenon is perfectly understandable. We should Be more open-minded and learn about the new country or culture to understand the reasons for cultural differences.

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I remember that this video clip was shown to me when I was still an undergraduate. So, honestly, I wasn’t as shocked as I had been at that time. However, there is still one difference that has impressed me for quite a long time: how do English and Chinese behave on the metro?

In China, when I get on a metro, what’s often waiting for me is all kinds of noises such as people’s talks, phone rings, message notifications, and so on. The reason why the Chinese will allow them to exist is that we tend to feel rather awkward or, to put it another way, a little uncomfortable if we just sit silently on the metro without talking to someone or being surrounded by sound. 

Yet, in Britain, the scenario is different. Britons would prefer sitting on the metro, reading a book, or listening to music or podcast with their earplugs. From my perspective, this is because, in Western culture, people attach great importance to boundaries and individualism. Therefore, they would like to enjoy their own quality time, hoping not to bother others or be bothered, when they take a metro.

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As the documentary has revealed, the recognition of cultural difference is the very foundation for cross-cultural communication, which is definitely even more relevant today in the world of marketing. It reminds me of what I have learned about international marketing during my years of college for a second degree in economics.

As we all know, there is a growing inclination for foreign companies to cater for the unique taste of specific targeted consumers in today’s globalized world. That is what we say, localization. For example, KFC has rolled out a series of “Chinese fast food” such as Dragon Twister(老北京鸡肉卷) , which is considered as a perfect combination of traditional Chinese staple food and western cooking methods. This serves as a fine example of effective cross-cultural marketing, which not only showed respect for the Chinese food culture, but managed to promote  product innovation for the company as well.

刘芳雨   0213701021

When I see the name of the documentary, I’m very interested at these very British problems since everyone is accultured and encultured. When I say “they are really British”, we are well aware of some cultural traits of British. And the recognition of these cultural traits of different people is important for us to understand how people behave in that culture and avoid some awkwardness.

I went to UK in a short study visit program four years ago. And I saw a cute little girl with her family in KFC when I was about to have lunch. I smiled at her and intended to play with her as I was waiting for my food. But the instructor who had lunch with us stopped me from doing that. He said that people would be suspected of ‘paedophilia’ if they got too close to a kid who they were unfamiliar with. I was shocked and somehow embarrassed when I heard what he said since it was very common that people showed friendliness and get close to a cute little kid in China. But British didn’t take this behavior as friendliness. And British’s social distance is different from that of Chinese.

So, knowing some cultural codes and taboos is helpful to avoid awkwardness in inter-cultural communications.

The documentary Very British Problems we saw last week has given me a deep impression that different cultures and societies give birth to different customs and ways of life. It is common that we will experience culture shock when we go to other countries whose customs are different from ours.

We feel disoriented and sometimes anxious when culture shock strikes. We don’t know what to to or how to do. Everything is strange for us. We need to adjust to new foods, customs, language, people and activities.  

Take food culture shock as an example. As a Chinese, I can’t understand why people in some countries like Thailand and Africa eat wild rats roasted on a stick and I will never try this. I believe such feelings are also experienced by some foreign people when they see Chinese people eat chicken feet.  

Culture shock is common for people who come to a foreign country, so we need to know how to cope with it. I think most people have the ability to positively deal with the difficulties  of a new environment and overcome culture shock. Let’s start from recognizing culture shock as a normal part of adjusting to a new country, which will help us to relax and not to put much pressure on ourselves. Then, we should try our best to develop relationships with locals. Talking with our friends and families is also necessary. Overcoming culture shock takes time, but we will no doubt make it.

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When it comes to culture shock, I recall my own experience studying in South Korea. In a conversation with a Korean friend, I asked her why the school canteen was closed during breakfast time. She told me that usually they didn't eat breakfast but drink a cup of coffee instead. I was a culture shock for me and I realized that the streets of Korea were full of coffee shops, and one of our teachers would come to class with an Iced Caffe Americano every morning, even in winter. Then I asked her why Koreans drunk coffee so much. She said actually she didn’t know the exact reason but it may be related to South Korea's fast-paced culture.

Every country has its own cultural background, and it is quite normal to have culture shock when communicating with people from different countries.

0213701123 吕珊

Culture shock refers to feelings of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people may experience when moving to a new country or experiencing a new culture or surroundings. This cultural adjustment is normal and is the result of being in an unfamiliar environment.

Culture shock can occur when people move to another city or country, such as when retiring abroad. Culture shock can also occur when people go on vacation, travel in retirement or for business, or study abroad for school. For example, international students studying abroad for a semester in another country may experience a cultural adjustment due to an unfamiliarity with the weather, local customs, language, food, and values.

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After watching the documentary “Very British Problems”,we may be confused that since they already feel uncomfortable about the situation why the British don’t express their feelings directly.Some of people may even think their behaviors are ridiculous, which can be seen as culture shock.

From my perspective,it is better to see culture shock in an inclusive way. It’s pretty common to face culture shock in our daily life.Sometimes we may feel confused,curious even shocked,having difficulties in understanding the culture shock.In fact,it makes sense that different nation shares different customs and distinctive lifestyles.There is no need for us to feel incomprehensible about culture shock.Especially for the students studying foreign languages ,seeing culture shock in a correct way can help us do well in cross-cultural communication.

This documentary reminded me of my own experience in Russia as an exchange student. Through my personal experience, I hold the view that not only people from different backgrounds will experience culture shock in communication, but also people that has grown up under the same cultural background will experience culture shock.

When I first arrived at Russia, I found it difficult to get along with people. I was not familiar with the Russian cultural background and some cultural taboos at that time. For instance, the number "666" is an internet term in China which is often utilized to describe some fantastic people or things. In a conversation with a Russian friend, I used the expression "666". It turned out that my friend was immediately angry. She thought I was cursing her because "666" means evil and unluckiness in Russian. Once, I invited two Russian friends to have dinner together, but I ignored the cultural conflict between them. One was a girl living in Moscow and the other girl comes from the Caucasus. The “Moscow” girl chose pork chops when ordering dishes, but this made another girl very unhappy, because people in the Caucasus do not eat pork at many cases. Their different residential cultures also created a gap between them.

Therefore, I believe that bilingual or multilingual users must have an in-depth understanding of the cultural customs and traditions of another country in advance and many other aspects.

Culture shocks are normally related to anxiety, awkwardness, and embarrassment. However, from my perspective, they don’t necessarily have to be negative! They can simply be things we encounter that are unfamiliar to us culturally and I’d like to share a cute incident of mine back in August 2019. More specifically, it’s the second day of my exchange program in Berkeley. Due to the jet lag, I woke up pretty early and all I wanted then was a cup of latte. With the help of Google Map, I found a coffeehouse nearby that required a 10-min walk. On my way there, I ran into 4-5 locals who were either having a morning jog or taking care of the flowers in their front yard. All of them, I mean, all of them, after having eye contact in a split a second with me, wore a smile on their face and said, “Have a nice day!” That really caught me by surprise and I suddenly felt awkward. This was absolutely a cultural shock moment for me, but it was really lovely and warm-hearted and had a positive impact. As a newcomer in this country, their greetings immediately made me feel at home. This is due to the unfamiliarity of these “sudden greetings from strangers on the street” which barely happens in China. We Chinese people seem to have a stronger sense of the proper distance between people, and restraining our emotions is greatly acclaimed in our culture and traditions. 

After watching the documentary "Very British Problems", I realize that I have been caught in the stereotypical images of British people. Before, I thought the weather was the very few things they would like to talk about with strangers, and in most cases, they were quite indifferent. However, this documentary sheds light on the real feelings of British people in terms of social communication.

It also reminds me of my experience in an exchange program in New York. Most of my "neighbours" on the same floor were Americans and one of my roommates was a Korean who was born in Hong Kong but studied in America for quite a long time, which meant that she was kind of assimilated into the western culture. They could not live without parties and other overnight social activities. It was rather common for them to get dressed in the midnight and went out to have fun. In addition, the LGBTQ culture was indeed a viral trend in New York, which was indeed a cultural shock for me. It was not uncommon to encounter drag queens in the dormitory elevators and to be invited to join in drag queen shows and other activities.

From my perspective, approaching foreigners or getting involved in a different culture always brings about the inevitable cultural shock. It is important for us to communicate with others and know about their behaviours and try to avoid their taboos. Only in this way can we live in harmony with people of different cultures.

李秋琪

The documentary Very British Problems depicts how awkward British people can be in their daily life due to their over-politeness. From saying “hi” to saying “goodbye”, they try their best to avoid offending others or even to avoid people completely. Although the document intends to emphasize the uniqueness of these British characteristics, I can easily relate to these troubled British as a Chinese. Actually, I think this kind of awkwardness is quite common among young Chinese nowadays. But why? After all, China and Britain are two totally different countries very far away from each other. Where does this resemblance come from?

To begin with, there might be historical reasons for the fact that the two countries resemble each other in introversion and moderation. Chinese culture has always emphasized “propriety” known as “礼”, meaning acting properly according to social hierarchy and interpersonal relationships. Similarly, British are used to being polite under the impact of feudalism and a hereditary monarchy.

Globalization and technological development may also play a role. These factors are uniting people over the world and at the same time, distancing them. We spend a great deal of time surfing online and experiencing all kinds of foreign cultures. We get to know the lifestyles, traditions, taboos, and mindsets of other cultures even if we haven’t been there personally. We are increasingly aware of the cultural differences and thus less likely to have a culture shock when we encounter new people, new groups, or new cultures. What’s interesting is that in terms of getting along with people in real life, we become rustier. We choose our virtual life over real human contact. This phenomenon is universal since the advance of technology is everywhere. Therefore, it shouldn’t be difficult to relate the so-called “social phobia” in China to social awkwardness in Britain.

To recap, historical reasons, technological advancement, and globalization all have a part in connecting us together. To prevent culture shock or reduce its negative impact, we should try to look at the various contributors behind it. A bit of humanity and empathy might also help.

郑娅楠  0213701064

To be honest, I was quite surprised when I learnt about the difficulties for English people to communicate with each other or to simply avoid any awkward situation in their daily life. Because when it comes to English people, we tend to describe them as "noble", "gentleman", as if they're perhaps the last in the world to be confronted with an awkward situation. According to my imagination, they're enabled even to start small talks with strangers in waiting for the bus, which is far beyond my ability. Probably that is another kind of stereotype. As a result, this documentary also told me to never judge any other culture by some clichés. 

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The video reminds me of a journey to Japan a few years ago. In the summer of 2018, my friend and I went to Japan. We stayed for a couple of days in Kamakura in a house on a hill, which we shared with our Airbnb host, a white-collar worker. I’d been to Japan before and had had some prior engagements with Japanese people, but it’s the first time I traveled without a tour guide. 

My host did his best to make us feel better. He barely came downstairs while we were in his house. He invited us to his favorite local restaurant. On the third night of our staying something happened. After going out with my friend to have a walk, we cannot find the key to the front door. It almost was 10 o’clock in the evening, and our host wasn’t in the house. We had no choice but to call him. Upon learning our situation, he made no hesitation to call a taxi and come home directly from his office. He arrived about 40 minutes later, opened the door, and politely invited us to come in. Then he called another taxi and headed back to his office. 

I really appreciated his gestures, but I was also kind of “shocked” by things he would do for us strangers. He said “I hope you like Japan” a few times and was concerned about our day-time experience in the city. Afterall, he was not a professional host but more of an ordinary office worker, but he made us feel that our impression and feelings about his country really matter, that money isn’t an issue compared with properly treating his guests. 

From my perspective, many problems discussed in the documentary Very British Problems are very interesting and deeply resonant.

Cultural differences can be reflected in many details in our daily life, such as a very basic thing—greeting. From handshakes to thumbshakes, to hugs and then to kisses on one cheek or two cheeks, the British feel very confused about the rule of greeting. But it is much easier in China. In most cases, we Chinese just simply wave and say hello to each other. Handshakes, hugs and kisses are not so common in China.

Apart from differences, similarities also exist among cultures. For example, if a Briton has been talking to someone for quite some time, but does not know his or her name, it will not be allowed in British etiquette to ask “I’m sorry, what’s your name?” in the following conversation. I also encountered such problem in China, especially when I was new to the school. After a ten-minute happy talk with my future classmate, I found it very awkward to ask her name at that moment. In this case, I think it is a good idea to add each other as WeChat friends, and then get the name information through the verification questions.

The documentary “Very British Problems” sees some of Britain’s famous faces talking about the crushing weirdness and awkwardness of life as a Brit. What is fascinating about the documentary is that it reveals that people with identical cultural background might still struggle with their “norms” and occasionally misinterpret other’s intentions, let alone those from different cultures.

Culture is a very complex combination of shared ideas, customs, and social behavior. On the face of it, it consists of the marked characteristic of a certain group of people. However, while a community is the sum of the individuals who comprise it, it does not necessarily mean that each individual shares exactly the same character. Therefore, when communicating across culture, we should not only remember the cultural norms of a certain group, but also make sure that we see them as individuals who have their own habits and beliefs. The last thing we want to do is to hold preconceptions about people from a certain group.

Cultures have different non-verbal ways of delivering and interpreting information. For example, some cultures may treat personal space differently than do people in North America,and as we learned in British problem,we generally tend to stay as far away from one another as possible. For example, if you get on an empty bus or subway car and the next person who comes on sits in the seat right next to you, you might feel discomfort, suspicion, or even fear. In a different part of the world this behaviour might be considered perfectly normal. Consequently, when people from cultures with different approaches to space spend time in North America, they can feel puzzled at why people aim for so much distance. They may tend to stand closer to other people or feel perfectly comfortable in crowds, for example. Culture is complex! It can be compared with an iceberg - the smaller, visible part is what you notice with your senses: the food, sounds, how people dress or speak - their way of life. And then there is the hidden part. You don’t know what you don’t know – you don’t understand the local politics and networks, who is really in charge or the nuances of the language or humour.

With English the predominate language in many areas of business or academia, expats moving to the UK from Europe or North America might think they will not experience excessive culture shock.

But let’s look at some of the visible differences and how they might impact on your understanding of British culture.

The British sense of humour is often dry, sarcastic and heavy on irony and self-deprecation. However, people steer away from discussing or making jokes about religion and politics, even
with friends. It is also unacceptable to make any sort of racial, homophobic or sexist remark

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The culture shock usually happens when a person moves to another country that he or she is not familiar with, and can be demonstrated as symptoms like depression, unwillingness to eat and constant homesickness. People of different capacities of adapting to a new environment can suffer from various degrees of culture shock. Some may get used to their new life very soon while some others will spend much more time handling the situation.

How does culture shock take place? in my opinion, this is basically because of the great difference that exists between two countries. The less two countries have in common, the more likely one suffers from a culture shock. And the difference is noticeable almost everywhere in daily life, from the ways of greeting each other to the tabus. Besides, the stereotype is also another important reason why it’s more difficult to fit in another culture. We tend to imagine the people of a country as what we have been taught in textbook and as what others have told us, instead of trying to find out by ourselves the true characteristic of the people living in there. And this stereotype often leads to misunderstanding prejudice.

In my opinion, the best way to cope with culture shock is to face it with an open mind. We can actively interact and participate in a new culture and find its attractiveness. It is of great help that we talk to local people and build our own perception of their characteristics.

Last week we watched the documentary which name is Very British Problems. By watching this documentary, I learned a lot about the unique habits and ways of communication of British people，such as ‘Having no idea what to say or do when meeting other people’,’Pretending you hace heard someone when you haven’t’.On the basis of this documentary, I think we should keep these cultural habits in mind when we are going to communicate with the British in the future. Moreover, when communicating with people from other countries, we should also understand their country's specific culture in advance, so as to avoid embarrassing situations.

Although situations of “cultural shock” in the “Very British Problems” could be embarrassing and inconvenient for British people at that time, most of the cases like these are actually quite interesting and funny when they recall. From my perspective, cultural shock is commonplace in cross-cultural communication, as it reveals the difference and even precious nuances in cultures. 

In the nature of things, when people from different backgrounds communicate with each other, they would find that they have different habits, different ways of expressing their own feelings and thoughts and even different mindsets and values. I think this is the most intriguing part of cross-cultural communication, as you can actually feel cultural difference from personal experiences. In this way, sometimes even the most abstract aspects of cultural nuances can be tangible.

What’s more, cultural shock basically are felt by individuals, therefore, others are likely to relate to experiences like these. This will encourage more people to recognize their own culture and even to appreciate or learn more about other cultures, hence promoting cross-cultural communication.

Cross-cultural communication matters against the backdrop of “deglobalization” and protectionism in the post-pandemic era. Every culture in this world is precious and unique. Not only should we notice but also cherish “cultural shock” as a way of promoting cultural communication and a chance to get to know our own culture deeper. Let’s celebrate diversity!

The concept widely used in studying cultural differences of different nations, regions is a concept called "Cultural shock". Cultural shock is actually one of the three stages of cultural adjustment people go through when placed in an environment of completely foreign culture (they've never explored). Cultural adjustment is a process which every person who has just arrived to the foreign country will overgo, thus experiencing cultural shock as a part of adjusting to the local culture is absolutely normal. Here I'd like to mention the 3 stages of cultural adjustment with a more detailed explanation. Experts believe that cultural adjustment often occurs in three stages: 1. Honeymoon stage — excitement about being in the new country. 2. Uncomfortable stage — frustration, confusion and negative feelings about the new culture, homesickness, illness. This stage is often called ‘Culture shock’. 3. Adjustment stage — understanding many aspects of the new culture, making friends and discovering helpful people at the university; ability to keep core values of the home country but operate within the values of the new community.

Cut short, cultural shock happens when a person is not able to find cultural cues familiar to the ones he has known from previous life experience. In order to deal with cultural shock, one needs to develop the following traits/abilities: open-mindedness, communicativeness, adaptability, empathy, flexibility, being non-judgemental.

Nowadays, the importance of multi-cultural communication has become unprecedent. This implies that understanding and dealing with cultural shock, is an issue worth discussing. The people of 21st century seem to interact with each other more freely than ever before, thanks to different channels of communication and social networks such as FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, where anyone can freely express their ideas and thoughts. However, although there is more interaction between the people all over the world, if there is no understanding of cultural differences, communication problems, especially interpretation and perception of the same ideas, is going to be problematic. This is because our culture deeply influences the way we perceive the world, even the exact same color can be perceived in different ways and imply different meanings in different cultures. For example, in culture A red might be perceived as the color of aggression, while in other cultures it may symbolize wealth, happiness or success.

One important thing to keep in mind when communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds, is trying to think from their perspective, and really try to understand the causes of their behavior, which seems so strange to us. Only if we embark on a journey to genuinely understanding their culture, history and societal uniqueness, we can successfully proceed in communicating with representatives of different cultures.

The documentary is titled "Very British Problems", while I think the majority of daily headaches mentioned in the first episode are universal for people from different cultural background. They are human problems rather than merely British ones. For instance, as I have observed, Chinese people also tend to sit at the very two ends when taking the metro. The middle seats in a row are often times the second option, while some commuters and I would rather stand all the way than being sandwiched between two people. All that being said, I am astonished to find that Britons are too shy to ask a person who wrongfully occupies their seat to move away, which is more than conservative.

Apart from overly conservative nature of Britain, I believe that most of the so-called national characteristics are solely illusions or stereotypes, or they are just as usual for other nations. I would name two reasons that contribute to the stereotype: historical background and the law.

In feudal times, things barely changed. French said that “there is nothing now beneath the Sun”，as some historians argued that history was simply repeating itself from time to time. With the advent of industrial revolutions, however, every day is a different day with advances in nearly all aspects. Take female rights in Eastern Asia for example. In the book The Chrysanthemum and The Sword published in 1946, it was concluded that Japanese women were obedient and subject to patriarchy, which would be concurred by their Chinese counterparts as they surely felt the same in China. But the 21^st century has witnessed that an increasing number of Asian women are gaining their independence and social status, thanks to the technological breakthroughs and the trailblazers of feminism. They have shaken off stereotypes such as blind obedience, foolishness and incapability people used to impose on them.

Speaking of obedience, I noticed that people sometimes follow the rules not out of morality, but the law. Some “experts” hold it that Western people, due to their benevolent national characteristics, would never run the red even if there was no car in sight. Sarcastically, when I was studying in Spain, I discovered that it was always the locals who took the red light as something nonexistent. I do find, nevertheless, Spanish drivers always stop their car to let passengers pass by. I was really touched until I was told that drivers who do not do so will be fined.

In a nutshell, I believe that most of the “national characteristics” are not formed by nature, but by some external factors such as the technology and the law.

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I felt the same way with the British people when I watched the video.I am almost about to shout out  it is excatly who I am .It is interesting to find out that i have common points  in social eembarrassment with the British people.For example,it is so awkard when you meet someone you are not very familiar on your way to school .I will feel anxious about thinking what to talk about.AT last, I will rather slow down my walking speed to avoid this person. 

 I'm not very active in social communication which I thought there is something to do with my growth of children.As fot the British people,I think one of the reason that why they're not so good at social communication may be related to the geography of Britain. Britain is formed of islands.People are connected very close.And this bulids their common character.

 As I think,it is an interesting discovery. 

高级翻译学院 ： 张梓夏  学号： 0213701095

The documentary was indeed vey interesting; some of these "Very British problems" were very specific to the British like the constant need to apologize even for the slightest of things, as not apologizing is considered to be very rude. I also noticed how British people would rather not confront someone who took their reserved seat! I certainly would not have any problem with such confrontation as a person from the Middle East, so people from different cultures can have very different traits that are related to culture. Even people within the same country who share the same language and social norms still encounter awkward situations when interacting with each other, so when people from different cultures communicate, awkwardness and even misunderstandings might arise due to a lack of knowledge of our different cultural traits. Therefore, recognition of these cultural traits of different peoples is of vital importance for cross-cultural communication.

I think one of the most important abilities that we must have in cross-cultural contexts is to find a common ground. In other words, it is the ability to still understand and relate to others even when there are myriad differences in between. 

After watching the documentary, I actually can relate to some of the "very British problems". For example, British people tend to hide their true feelings and veil their thoughts in words, which is also something that we Chinese also tend to do in most occasions as a way of maintaining the propriety of the speaker. This may because that both Chinese culture and British culture are a ‘high-context culture’ where non-verbal behaviors, tone, expression and background are as important as words to successful communication.