School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

JRMC 330503

Multi-Media Writing

Script Final Draft

Name: Aya Negoum

ID number: 900192832

Professor: Amina Zein-Eldein

Date: April 18th, 2022

Spring 2022
SCRIPT: Identity Reframing
Interviewer: Aya Negoum
Interviewee: Salma Usama
Date: 30-3-2022

The term cultural shock was coined by Kalervo Oberg, who is a Canadian anthropologist. Oberg
defined cultural shock as the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symptoms of
social intercourse. He also believed that all humans had to go through the experience of identity
loss, anxiety, and confusion when they move or travel from one country to another, especially if
they were not previously prepared for this move.

Salma Usama, a 21-year-old marketing student at The American University in Cairo, experienced
a cultural shock once she moved from Saudi Arabia to Egypt. Despite this profound challenge, she
decided to research to understand why she felt lost and unable to fit in. She concluded that she had
an identity loss, which is mainly one of the cultural shock symptoms, and she defined her feelings
that.

(SU): “ it's just that when you live your whole life in a country, and then you move to a
different one. All of a sudden you start getting these flashbacks and homesickness, and this
is when it's all started.” [00:00:15]

Salma faced many struggles when she arrived in Egypt; some she even had to change to cope with
and be able to fit in. When she lived in Saudi Arabia, Salma’s personality was introverted. Life was
quieter there. However, she had to leave her comfort zone and become more willing to socialize to
be able to cope with Egyptian culture by knowing that being introverted is not the best option here
in Egypt.

SU: “ when I came to Egypt, I realized that I was struggling to deal with dealing with
people and just living here. ” [00:00:10]
Another thing that Salma had to go through was facing racism or bullying once she arrived in
Egypt. People when they first met her and knew that she was living in Saudi Arabia, they usually
made jokes about her different upbringing. They would comment on the way she talked or acted,
and she had to handle it, yet it was shocking and annoying at the beginning.

SU: “If like if I say something like some specific words or some something wrong with my
accent, or they just make fun of it because they know that I'm not like, I did not live here in
Egypt.” [00:00:07]

Many people ask about their real identity or belonging regarding the feeling of cultural shock that
they faced. Salma supported this fact that she keeps on asking herself until now about her real
identity or home since she considers Saudi Arabia her home; however, she sees Egypt as her home
country.

SU: “ I still don't have a permanent home, and I still think about it every day and like, what is my
home country?” [00:00:07]

Therefore, we cannot avoid experiencing cultural shock because it has helped many people build
their personalities.

Aya Negoum, A-U-C Radio.