Reverse Culture Shock

After the initial "honeymoon stage" of being home has passed, students and others returning from extended stays abroad often experience such similar feelings that experts in cross-cultural learning have grouped these feelings together and categorized them as "re-entry shock" or "reverse culture shock."

Top 10 challenges of reverse culture shock

College students have identified culture shock as consisting of the following challenges:

  1. Boredom
  2. "No one wants to hear about this"
  3. It's hard to explain
  4. Reverse homesickness
  5. Relationships have changed
  6. People see the "wrong" changes
  7. People misunderstand if I adopt elements of my host culture; they misinterpret my behavior
  8. Feelings of alienation; seeing home with critical eyes
  9. Inability to apply new knowledge and skills
  10. Fear of losing the experience, storing it away in a souvenir box that we only occasionally look at.

These feelings are all perfectly normal; in fact, they signal that you had a successful study abroad experience in which you grew, changed, and developed new perspectives on life. However, just because these feelings are normal does not mean that they are enjoyable, and if you're experiencing them, you're probably eager to figure out how to move as quickly as possible from the "reverse culture shock" stage to the more comfortable re-adjustment stage.

Strategies for coping with reverse culture shock

Northwestern's Counseling and Psychological Services suggests these strategies for coping with the above challenges in different areas of your life.

Family
You may be expected to fit back into your family but find it difficult to communicate effectively because your family has not shared your overseas experiences. Your family may not adjust well to your new independence and changed values.

Strategies:

  • Share your experience through photos, stories, etc.
  • Let your family know how much you appreciate the chance they have given you to grow in new ways by living, studying, and traveling overseas.

Friends
You and your friends may no longer be as close. You need to be sensitive about discussing your experience with them. You may also miss the new friends you made while overseas.

Strategies:

  • Ask and listen to what your friends have experienced while you were away.
  • Ask to be brought up to date on local events.
  • Try to do new things together to get the relationship on a new footing.
  • Write to your new friends and try to involve them somewhat in your home life or make plans to visit them again.

School
You may look at your home campus in a new light. You may also miss the feeling of being part of a close-knit group of students.

Strategies:

  • Talk over your academic experience with your adviser, especially if you are considering new career goals.
  • Seek out the International Office to see about making contact with international students on your campus.
  • Talk with the Study Abroad Office so that you can offer your expertise to students who plan to study abroad.
  • Seek out other students who have studied overseas.

Country
Your home culture may no longer be entirely to your liking, and you may have the sense that you no longer fit in. In the future you will probably continue to evaluate ideas and events in the context of the broader cultural perspective you have acquired.

Strategies:

  • Come to terms with the fact that we all tend to look past the shortcomings of our home culture when we are away, and tend to criticize it on the basis of changed perceptions when we return.
  • Seek out others on your campus with interest in international and intercultural matters.
  • Keep up with your host country by means of news, reading, friends, etc.

Self
You have become accustomed to a high level of activity and anticipation that your home and campus probably cannot match. You may feel restless or a bit depressed for a while after your return.

Strategies:

  • Recuperate from the physical journey.
  • Think over the ways you have changed -- which of those do you like? What did you learn about yourself? How have your family and friends at home reacted to the new you?
  • Keep a journal so you can see your thought processes evolve.

If you are having significant difficulty re-adjusting, please contact Counseling and Psychological Services at 847-491-2151 to set up an appointment with a counselor who specializes in cross-cultural adjustment.

CAPS also offers a three-part Reverse Culture Shock Workshop, where you can share your experiences with others. It's an informal discussion about topics that matter to those who have returned from study abroad. To sign up, call CAPS at 847-491-2151, email p-stronczek@northwestern.edu, or sign up online at http://www.northwestern.edu/counseling/DP/index.html. Check the Study Abroad Calendar for upcoming dates.

You should also keep in mind the strategies that you probably used abroad in adjusting to the foreign culture, including . . .

  • Keep your sense of humor!
  • Be flexible and open-minded.
  • Maintain a healthy diet and incorporate exercise into your daily life.

In addition, try to choose university courses that will allow you to build on your study abroad experience, such as language courses, area studies courses, and writing courses. You may even want to talk to your adviser in your major department about writing a senior (honors) thesis based on a topic you studied abroad!