The Worldwide Classroom website defines culture shock as the “the anxiety that results from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse.” Common symptoms include bewilderment, loneliness, disproportionate irritation and frustration, insecurity, homesickness, and a desire to spend time with people from home. I’m definitely in the irritability stage of culture shock. I’m not […]

Dictionary.com defines ethnocentrism as the belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to which one belongs, often accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups, and cultural relativism as the view that ethical and moral standards are relative to what a particular society or culture believes to be good/bad, right/wrong.   Personally, […]

According to the dictionary, syncretism is the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought. Catholicism is heavily syncretic. Christmas, Easter, All Saints’ Day, and Corpus Cristi are all examples of major holidays that were heavily influenced by non-Catholic religions. Much of syncretism stems from attempts to ease people into Catholicism […]