Reverse Culture Shock

As your time abroad winds down, you might be looking ahead to a return to familiar territory. Returning home can have its challenges too, however. You have grown and changed as a result of living abroad – your daily living patterns, academic interests, foods you’ve learned to eat, the people you have met, and the places you have visited have probably had an effect on how your view yourself, others, and the world. Although you may not have noticed a big change yet, your family and friends at home will.

How well you adjust to being back home can be easy or difficult depending on how well you integrated into your host culture. Often, the better adjusted you are to living an independent life abroad, the more difficult it may be to readjust to life back home. It is important for you to be aware of the feelings you may have and the expectations that family and friends may have. Your values and perceptions have probably changed, whereas your family and friends have not – they have not had the same experiences as you. They will expect you to be the same person you were when you left several months ago.

Returning home from study abroad can be a difficult transition for many people and is usually unexpected. Just as you learned to adjust to your host culture (culture shock), you will also need to learn to adjust to reverse culture shock (sometimes called re-entry) once you get home. If you find yourself feeling unhappy upon arriving home, keep in mind that this is normal and expected.

Be prepared for the following:

• Family and friends may show less interest in your stories and experiences than you expect. Know that while you might want to talk about, “When I was studying abroad…” often, family and friends may become quickly bored and not want to hear your stories. Try to find a different outlet for sharing your experiences, whether that’s talking to your study abroad friends who can share in your feelings, writing about it for your university paper or blog, etc.
• You may no longer stand out in your surroundings.
• Being home may seem boring, as you have grown accustomed to a challenging and exciting life abroad; you have felt a sense of empowerment and independence. You may not immediately feel this same sense of daily personal growth when you return back home
• You may miss your host country’s culture, food, lifestyle, and friends; your hometown or Williamsburg may not seem as exciting at first.

Reverse culture shock can take on many forms which you may not even recognize at first. It is perfectly normal to experience shock at first. Other things that might happen include:

• You may feel like you have missed out on what happened at home or with family and friends while you were gone; this could lead to a feeling of “not fitting in.”
• You may not want to be around family and old friends.
• Your appetite may change.
• Family and friends may not understand why you feel unhappy or depressed.

The good news is that most students get used to being back home once they have reflected on the changes they experienced and accept that everything will not be ”just as it was” when they left. Focus on the positive and negative aspects of both your home and host cultures, then you can begin to appreciate what you learned from being abroad. You can craft these meaningful experiences into stories either written or told when interviewing for jobs or graduate school applications.

W&M Resources:

• W&M GEO - Reverse Culture Shock

More Resources:

• StudentsAbroad.com – Reverse Culture Shock
• GoOverseas - How to Deal With Reverse Culture Shock After Studying Abroad
• The Abroad Guide – How to Deal with Reverse Culture Shock
• ISEP - 6 Tips for Dealing with Reverse Culture Shock
• Matador Network - 5 Things NOT To Do After Returning From Abroad
• US State Department - Reverse Culture Shock
• Kat Kim - Reverse Culture Shock Comic