i was waiting, idly leafing through a book, leaning against a table.
on the shelf across from me, books began to shudder as the ground rumbled deeply.

my california-bred mind immediately thought 'earthquake,' and i mentally caluclated whether or not that table was sturdy enough to be worth crawling under.
then the part of my mind firmly planted in philadelphia kicked in, and i realized the store was situated over subway tracks.

do you think this is what they mean by culture shock?