Culture Shock and Mongolian Wrestling
In this particular episode of “Last Man Standing”, the athletes traveled to Mongolia to compete in Mongolian wrestling. The athletes were hosted by Mongolian families and given a native trainer. This was a completely new experience for many of the western athletes because Mongolian culture is very different than that of the western countries. There were some instances in which the athletes showed culture shock as they lived and worked in this new situation. Culture shock is defined as the feeling of disorientation and frustration that comes from facing all the differences in a new culture. (Openstax 2016, pg 55.) This is seen as one athlete, Mark, describes his frustration at the daily routine of “hot milk, tea, lamb”. For a Mongolian this routine is simply a part of life but, for Mark and the other athletes daily life is typically more varied. This culture shock is also seen in the reactions of the athletes to the slaughtering of the animals for food. Finally because of the different languages the athletes sometimes had trouble getting their meaning across to their host or trainer. Language is such an important factor in culture and the way a person thinks (source) that if it is not shared it can be difficult to understand the intent behind someone’s actions. This was seen when Rajko was injured but was unable to properly convey this to the trainer.
There are some moments in which the athletes show a belief that their culture is better than that of the Mongolians, or ethnocentrism. The biggest example of this is when two of the athletes, Rajko and Jason, refuse to eat the Mongolian delicacy of testicle soup. This scene showed the two athletes looking down upon a dish that is considered to be fine dining to the natives. Another moment of ethnocentrism on the part of the athletes was when they were using the bathroom out in the middle of a field. Jason described in detail and process of using the bathroom while also projecting an air of tolerating the custom until he could get back to “normal” bathrooms.
The biggest cultural differences that the athletes had to face were the norms and values of the Mongolian culture. For the natives it was completely normal to have to slaughter/castrate animals by hand but, for the athletes they would most likely purchase any food/meat from a grocery store, never having to see the animal killed. The Mongolian people also value different things than the athletes. It was shown that the value family, in that the host families were always eating and working together. They also valued hard work and a more community sense. The family works together to raise the livestock and live instead of running off to separate jobs and activities.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/04/how-the-language-you-speak-changes-your-view-of-the-world/
