EAP Term 2 2025

  When I moved to New Zealand from Japan, I experienced culture shock for the first time in my life. Everything felt new and strange. I was excited, but at the same time, I felt confused and nervous. In this essay, I will describe the thing that shocked me the most, how I tried to overcome it, and how long it took to adjust. The biggest shock for me was the way people communicate, especially with teachers. In Japan, students show strong respect to their teachers. We use polite language, and we never call teachers by their first names. We need to call them by their surname with honorifics. However, in New Zealand, students speak very casually and often use the teacher’s first name. At first, I did not know how to act, and I felt uncomfortable in class. I was afraid to make mistakes and did not speak much. Another cultural difference was the food. New Zealand meals are different from Japanese meals. People eat more bread, meat, and dairy products. The taste was okay, but I missed Jap...

 I have been in New Zealand to study since this February. New Zealand is the first country outside of Japan I went. Thus, I have experienced many different customs from Japan, however, at the same time I have faced culture shock. Firstly, I have shocked at a lot of cultural differences from Japan. For example, people in New Zealand eat potatoes rather than rice. Although I could enjoy these differences in the first month, I began to struggle with differences especially in customs. For instance, there is little public transportation in Dunedin where I am staying, so it is inconvenient for me. In addition to the bus timetable, buses often come late or come too early. Consequently, I have missed a bus and waited for thirty minutes at a bus stop. It made me really irritated because I have never experienced them in Japan. Furthermore, I was also shocked that most of the shops and cafes close in the early time, and many Kiwi people go to bed early and wake up early. In contrast, many Jap...

       People are usually familiar with the culture that they grew up in since they were young but not with a new environment that they have never experienced.  As a result, when they go to study or work in a foreign country for a long period of time, they are likely to experience some culture shock during their first few days or months in that place.  In terms of my experience, what follows is my culture shock in New Zealand.      As I have stayed with a host family since I came to study English here in February 2025.  The most significant experience of culture shock for me was the custom or the way of having a meal at home with my host mother.  On the first day that we had dinner together, I noticed that there was a round table with two chairs and I thought we would sit there and have dinner together.  This was because in my culture, when it comes to a mealtime, especially dinner, my family and I always sit and hav...

  Today, I would like to describe what I felt shock the most in New Zealand. It is the food. I know that Japanese food and New Zealand food there is very different. However, they were more different than I expected. For example, the rice. Japanese rice are smaller than New Zealand’s, chewy and sweet. On the other hand, New Zealand’s rice are long and hard and I do not like taste. This was the most shocking experience for me and it really impressed on me the different between our cultures.               First, I think that a diet based on salt and sugar is different from Japanese. While Japan has a wide variety of dashi and seasonings, I realized that food in New Zealand is seasoned with only salt or sugar and so is bland, which do not suit me at all.               Second, there is a relatively high amount of oily food. For example, fish and chips. I ...

  Since I have lived in New Zealand for six months, I have experienced a lot of culture shock. I would like to mention some of these experiences this essay. I live with a homestay family, and it has been very interesting, but also challenging. Some of the biggest incidents culture shock I had have to with the lifestyle at home. In Japan, we usually don’t talk so much during meals. But my homestay family always talks a lot, and they ask me many questions. Initially, I was overwhelmed and I felt nervous. Also, they hug each other a lot and say I love you. In my family, we don’t do that, therefore, I felt surprised and a little bit uncomfortable. Additionally, in Japan, we usually eat rice, fish, and vegetables. But in New Zealand, people eat a lot of meat, potatoes, and breads. Although the taste is very good, not having rice makes me quite stressed. Moreover, they eat dinner very early, like at 6pm, and I was not hungry at that time. To deal with some of culture shock, I tried to un...

   The most shocking thing that I have experienced in New Zealand is leaving dish soap foam on dishes or plates after washing them. My host family doesn't always rinse detergent foam off, even if there is big foam on the plates. In Japan, people wash dish soap foam from plates with water.   4 years ago, my friend who studied in Ireland also experienced that her host family kept detergent foam on plates after washing them. It was a culture shock for her and she told me about it. So, I had thought that it was just Irish culture. However, there are the same customs in New Zealand. When I faced it here, I was very surprised.   Of course, I tried to deal with my culture shock. For instance, I talked about leaving dish soap foam on plates with my friends from Asian countries. They were also confused when they faced it for the first time. But from their point of view, this custom has come from attitudes toward water conservation. After listening to their explan...