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BEATING REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK
“I had a very hard time readjusting to the US. I had changed so much and seen so many things, and I had a hard time relating to others and realizing that they had also changed during the time I was away. I was surprised that my friends didn't really want to spend much time looking at my pictures and listening to my stories.”
International Politics and Russian major,
Study abroad in Russia,
University of Pennsylvania ‘96
Reverse culture shock can be even more difficult to return because the old settings in which you used to live may seem unfamiliar and foreign to you. Your family and your closest friends might even seem like new people.
Don’t let reverse culture shock get you down. Deal with it the same way you dealt with culture shock when you went abroad: Be open and be proactive. Remember that you dealt with this problem at the beginning of your time abroad. You’ve done it once and you can do it again.
Try not to overwhelm your friends and family with discussions about how much better your life was while you were abroad. Whether you mean it this way or not, some might interpret this as saying that their lives are boring. You can certainly feel whatever you like, but be tactful and you’ll avoid unnecessarily hurting a friend or family member.
Returning home might seem less than ideal, but there’s a lot that’s good about it. Maybe you love spending quality time with your cat, or you miss the coffee shop around the corner from your house. Maybe it’s the radio station that blares crappy 80’s rock and wakes you up every morning, or the chirping birds that nest in your fence. Do things that make you happy to be home and you’ll eventually ease through reverse culture shock.
Copyright © 2002, 2003 by NATAVI GUIDES.
Check out more student advice on studying abroad...
• CHOOSING YOUR HOST COUNTRY
• FIGURING OUT WHAT TO PACK
• DEALING WITH CULTURE SHOCK
• WORKING WHILE STUDYING ABROAD
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