Introduction

It is known to us that cultural differences and similarities exist among different countries in the globe. There is no doubt that people from different countries are better to understand the cultural differences and similarities so that they won’t offend others due to some kind of misunderstanding. In order to know more clearly about the cultural differences and similarities between America and China, I have interviewed Nick, who I met in the chemistry class when I was in my sophomore year because I am from Mainland China.

Cultural Differences and Similarities between America and China

Nick, who is from Hong Kong, has been in the U.S. for two years and he studies as an exchange student in the U.S. because he has applied for a project at school, leading to his intercultural experience. And the detailed place he is from in Hong Kong is a small town  where people are quite traditional and most of them have the thoughts of old China. There are altogether three people in his family and they are respectively his father, his mother and he. His father works as a mathematical teacher in a primary school and his mother is a civil servant that enjoys the benefits and welfare of the government. As a result, Nick is really educated with quite strong sense of Chinese thoughts during his growth.

While interviewing Nick, he tells me that he really has experienced a lot of cultural differences after he comes to the U.S. To put it more specifically, he has told a story about the cultural difference at the interpersonal level. The more detailed condition is that he was walking along the street when he found an old lady stood at the traffic light who wanted to cross the street. She was too old to cross alone, so he went up to support her by holding her hand till they arrived at the other side of the street.

At the same time, he said to her “Grandma, let me help you” before he offered help to her. What was depressing is that this old lady didn’t thank him for a little and she directly walked away on her own after they arrived at the other side of the street. As a matter of fact, what Nick was experience in this story is cultural shock because he was not clear about the American culture at that moment. I have understood that it is better for Nick to call that old lady “Madam” instead of “grandma” because “Madam” shows respect in American culture while “grandma” shows politeness in Chinese culture.

At the same time, what Nick has said is that the Americans always take the initiative to talk with him and they start the conversation first. Maybe it is also the embodiment of the Americans’ being opener when compared with Chinese. Nick adds that the Americans as well hugs and kisses more than Chinese as well because they will use hug and kiss when they meet someone. The case is different because Chinese people only kiss and hug their beloved ones and they tend to shake hands with others in order for greeting instead of hugging or kissing. Under this circumstance, a fair knowledge can be obtained that Nick feel quite uncomfortable when the Americans hug or kiss him in the first beginning while he becomes increasingly accustomed to it no long after.

Furthermore, Nick says that he deems that cultural adaption is pretty necessary if one would like to live well in a foreign country. Just as an old saying goes that “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, it effectively delivers the idea that people have to learn from the local people when they come to a new place. And it would be better for one to have an inquisitive mind in order that they can quickly pick up the cultural differences in the reality.

After listening to what Nick has said, I learn that one must undergo the cultural shock phase when they firstly come to a new country. There is no doubt that one may feel quite hard for them to live in that country at the first place. Luckily, people can soon adjust themselves to the environment after a period’s living there. And they may even experience cultural shock again once they come back to their home country because they have become too accustomed to the foreign culture in the reality. Thus I would like to say that one must keep an open mind to the foreign cultures and they have to learn from one another in order that they can better get along with one another in this globalized world.

Conclusion

To sum up, a reasonable conclusion can be drawn that there are really cultural differences and similarities between American and China and people from both countries have to know clearly about those differences and similarities in order to better understand one another. It is undoubted that to interpret others’ behaviors simply from one’s own perspective may directly result in misunderstanding.