Dealing with culture shock in the American expatriate community The American expatriate community is the population of all Americans who live temporarily or permanently outside the borders of the United States. These overseas Americans, numbering over 6.32 million (Association for American Residents Overseas), face many problems when they leave their homeland and transition to a new life in a foreign country. These issues may include dealing with the local language or trying to unravel the esoteric tax laws that foreign workers must follow. One of the main problems that American expatriates (or “expatriates”) face is the problem of culture shock (Top Eight). Culture shock, in general, is the stress a person may feel from experiencing an unfamiliar lifestyle after immigrating, visiting a new country, or moving from one social environment to another (Macionis and Gerber 54). Culture shock comes from cultural differences such as language or values ​​regarding personal space or cleanliness. Cultural differences that cause culture shock were classified by Annelies E.M. Van Vianen, Irene E. De Pater, Amy L. Kristof-Brown, and Erin C. Johnson in their article “Fitting In: Surface- and deep-level Cultural Differences and Expatriates ' Adjustment" as "surface-level" differences or "deep-level" differences (700). Surface-level differences are those differences that are immediately apparent to new expatriates. These include things like food, housing conditions, climate and other easily observable aspects that a tourist would notice on holiday. Other aspects of a culture, such as beliefs and values ​​(such as openness to change and attitude towards personal advancement), are classified as deep-level differences. .... half of the paper ...... ra. “A needs-based approach to expatriate adjustment and career development: a multiple mentoring perspective” Journal of InternationalBusiness Studies, vol. 36, no. 5 (September 2005), pp. 519-538, JSTORS Web. April 4, 2012Schilling, Maria. “Avoid Expat Culture Shock” HR Magazine, July 1993, FindArticles.com. Network. 12 April 2012."Shaking hands with the world." Welcome to Wisc-Online.com. Wisc-Online. Network. 01 March 2012. 'The top eight concerns of expats according to HSBC.' Information desk for expats. ExpatInfoDeskInternational Limited, May 4, 2011. Web. February 23, 2012. Weeks, Kelly P., Mathew Weeks, and Katherine Willis-Muller. “The adjustment of expatriate adolescents.” Staff Review 39.1 (2010): 24-43. Emerald Intuition. Emerald Insight.Web. February 27. 2012. .