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As you prepare for your return, you may think your experience is about to end. However, another phase of the experience called "re-entry" is about to begin:
Re-entry is the process of readjusting to the home culture.
In many cases, this is more difficult than was the adjustment to life in a foreign country. In general, the less a person experiences culture shock and the more s/he identifies with the host culture, the more reverse culture shock s/he experiences. You will return to a setting that used to be familiar, but when you return things will no longer be the same. It may be hard to identify exactly what is different, but you have changed in internal, external, obvious, or subtle ways. Life “back home” has also evolved. Re-entry is a unique experience for every person, because people change in different ways and to varying degrees. The reassuring aspect of change is that it usually produces internal growth if handled correctly. The following is a list of issues you might confront as you return home from your study abroad experience.
You’ve Changed Inside...
Your insights have been broadened and your perspectives are different. Be aware that your emotional and mental climates have also changed. Sometimes, without even desiring it, you may find new beliefs, attitudes, patterns of behavior, and value orientations have become part of your personality and lifestyle. An attempt at an immediate reversion to “the old you” will likely fail. Hopefully the internal changes have been positive ones and there will be no need for a reversion to your pre-departure self.
Temper your desires to convert those around you. Many have not experienced what you have, and they may not be able or willing to understand. Depending on how long you have been away, they may not even be terribly interested in the “new you” and your attitudes toward the world, your desire to “improve” things, or even to go back to the “good old ways''. Seasoned travelers say that with friends and family, diplomacy is the key.
...And Out
Realize that you have also changed culturally. (So have others, for that matter. Their experiences have also changed while you have been away.) You have become more internalized after an extended stay away from home. It may be difficult to crawl back into your former lifestyle without some struggling. The healthiest solution to this dilemma might be to combine the positive aspects of the old and the new. The result should be a much richer and enjoyable lifestyle.
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