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T:Hiyangxue,Iheardthatyouaregoingtostudyingabroad,it‘sanewexperience,whichcanbringyouopportunitytodiscoverfascinatingthingsandafeelingoffreedom.Y:Oh!yeah,inspiteofthisadvantages,howevertherearealsosomechallengesIwillencounter.Cultureshockwillbethefirstone.T:yeah,Ihavewatchedseveralmoviesaboutwesternlifestylesandcultures,andreallyfindanimmensedifference.Y:Yeah,thedifferenceisalmosteverywhere.Asfarasthetableculture,thereisnodoubtitisatraditiontousechopsticksforChinese.ButpeopleinAmericaprefertoforksandknives.T：Thedifferenttoolsarebasedondifferentfoodtheylike.FriedfoodandfastfoodareAmericans’favoritewhileChinesepeoplechoosenoodles,pancakesandrice.Y:Yes,besides,haveyounoticedthatwhenwehavemealswithourfamiliesorgoodfriends,weusuallygetsomedeliciousfoodforeachothertoshowourcare.Butthewesternstyleofeatingseemstobemorehygienic.Nobodyuseshisownforktogetfoodforothers.T：Yeah,quiteso.Thisisonlytablemanners.Ialsoknowthatgreetingisdifferent.InChina,whenImeetyouinthestreet,Imaygreetyoubysaying“Haveyoueatenyet?”Andwhatwillbeyourreflect?Y:Oh,Iwillfeelnormal.Prettynormalgreetingwords.T：Butifyougreetaforeignerwiththesewords.Theywillbelievethatyouwanttoinvitehimtoameal.Y:Really?Toointeresting.T：Soit’seasytoleadtomisunderstandingbecauseofdifferentcultures.Ofcourse,thesituationsaremoreseriousifyougreetsomeoneinwesterncountriesbysaying“Whatareyougoingtodo?”“Wherehaveyoubeen?”etc.Becausetheythinkyouhaveinfringedtheirprivacy.Thus，youcanimaginetheirgreetings,theyusuallygreeteachother“Goodmorning/evening/afternoon.“Fineday,isn’tit?”Y:Butdon’tyoufeelthesearetooformulaicorunnecessary?T：Yes,butthat’sonlyourthinking.Y:Justnow,youreferredtopersonalaffairs,thereisalsomanydifferentopinionshere.Forexample,wedonotregarditasaskingpersonalaffairswhentheyaskothersname、year、maritalstatus、wages、personallife、beliefandpoliticalpoints.T：Yes,weregarditasconcerns.Y:Butthewesternswillthinkyouinfringetheirrightofprivacy.Sowhenwetalktothewesterns,wemustavoidaskingsomequestionslikethis:“Howoldareyou?”、“Areyoumarried？”、“Howmanychildrendoyouhave？”、“Howmuchdoyoumake？”、“What’syourweight?”、“Doyougotothechurch？”T：Somanydetailsneedtonotice.Wehavetalkedsomuch,butitonlycoversseveralsmallaspectsinlife.IevenfeelthewayoflifeinAmericaiscompletelydifferentfrommine.IthinkIwillbemadfacingallthese.Nowthatyouwillgothere.Haveyouconsiderhowtoadjustyourselftoadapttheircultures?Y:Infact,Ihaveconsideredtheproblemforlongtime.Atleastfouressentialstagesofadjustmentoccurduringcultureshocktonewarrivals.Iwillkeeppositivetoovercomethese.Asweknow,Americansareslavestonothingbutclocks,theyworkhardatthetaskofsavingtime.Imustgetridofthehabitofdelayingtimetokeeppacewiththem.It’shugeproject.T：Yeah,yeah.Youshouldestablisharightattitudetowardculturedifferences,tobeopen-mindedtothem.Afterall,attitudecandecideone’sfeelingandbehaving.However,theseseemnottobeenough.Y:That’strue.IalsoneedtolearnabouttheirculturalbackgroundbeforeIgo.AndIhavereadsomebooksandgraduallyaccepttheirwaysoflife.Next,Iamgoingtoreadtheirnewspapersandmagazinesandsomeliteratureworkstolearnthecountrydeeply.T：Yeah,yourdecisionisrightanditwillbenefityou.Youwouldlearnsomuchandyouwillrespecttheirculturefromyourdeepheart.Thus,youcanadapttothelifetheremorequicklyandsufferfromlittlecultureshock.Y:Ithinksotoo.Atleast,Icanavoidunintentionallyoffendingothersandmakelessjokes.T：Ofcourse,Ibelieveyourability.