Study Abroad Handbook

Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Chile China Costa Rica Czech Republic Denmark Egypt Finland France Germany Greece India Ireland Italy Japan Mexico New Zealand Netherlands Portugal Russia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden United Kingdom United States

Reverse Culture Shock

In this section, you will learn how to cope with reverse culture shock you may experience upon return to your home country. One of the biggest challenges for students who study in the United States can be the difficulty in re-adapting to the realities in their own country (otherwise known as "re-entry"). Many students who studied in the United States went through many changes, re-examining their priorities, their values, and what they think of themselves, the United States and their own country. The "return culture shock" may be more difficult than the "culture shock" they felt when in the United States for the first time. (See the section entitled Culture Shock for more information about the challenges of adapting to a new culture.) If return culture shock is severe, it is important that students are able to seek help/counseling to help them through this.

Just as culture shock can differ greatly from person to person, reverse culture shock is just as personal of an experience. Upon return to your home country, you may find many things are different from how you left them. You may be more critical of your home country, while you now view the United States in a more favorable light. From language adjustments to depression to a simple trip to the supermarket, reverse culture shock can hit you in more ways than you would expect.

So what is reverse culture shock? First, let's examine the process of re-entry. The element that characterizes the student’s re-entry is the idealized view of home. The expectation of total familiarity (that nothing at home has changed while you have been away in the United States)

Often students expect to be able to pick up exactly where they left off. A problem arises when reality doesn't meet these expectations. Home may fall short of what you had envisioned, and things may have changed at home: your friends and family have their own lives, and things have happened since you've been gone. This is part of why home may feel so foreign.

Feelings You May Experience

The inconsistency between expectations and reality, plus the lack of interest on the part of family and friends (nobody seems to really care about all of your "when I was in the United States" stories) may result in: frustration, feelings of alienation, and mutual misunderstandings between students and their friends and family. Of course, the difficulty of readjustment will vary for different individuals, but, in general, the better integrated you have become to U.S. culture and lifestyle, the harder it is to readjust during re-entry.

Reverse culture shock is usually described in four stages:

1. Disengagement
2. Initial euphoria
3. Irritability and hostility
4. Readjustment and adaptation

Stage 1 begins before you leave the United States to return home. You begin thinking about re-entry and making your preparations for your return home. You also begin to realize that it's time to say good-bye to your friends in the United States and to the place you've come to call home. The hustle and bustle of finals exams, good-bye parties, and packing can intensify your feelings of sadness and frustration. You already miss the friends you've made, and you are reluctant to leave. Or, your last few days may fly by so fast that you don't have time to reflect on your emotions and experiences.

Stage 2 usually begins shortly before departure, and it is characterized by feelings of excitement and anticipation - even euphoria - about returning home. This is very similar to the initial feelings of fascination and excitement you may have experienced when you first arrived in the United States. You may be very happy to see your family and friends again, and they are also happy to see you. The length of this stage varies, and often ends with the realization that most people are not as interested in your experiences in the United States as you had hoped. They will politely listen to your stories for a while, but you may find that soon they are ready to move on to the next topic of conversation.

This is often one of the transitions to Stage 3. You may experience feelings of frustration, anger, alienation, loneliness, disorientation, and helplessness and not understand exactly why. You might quickly become irritated or critical of others and of your culture. Depression, feeling like a stranger at home and the longing to go back to the United States are also not uncommon reactions. You may also feel less independent than you were in the United States.

Most people are then able to move onto Stage 4, which is a gradual readjustment to life at home. Things will start to seem a little more normal again, and you will probably fall back into some old routines, but things won't be exactly the same as how you left them. You have most likely developed new attitudes, beliefs, habits, as well as personal and professional goals, and you will see things differently now. The important thing is to try to incorporate the positive aspects of your experience in the United States with the positive aspects of your life at home in your country.