When I first heard the term reverse culture shock, it struck me as a bit absurd. We’ve all heard of culture shock, but reverse culture shock? The phrase seemed more like slightly pompous rhetoric than an actual sociological phenomenon.
I never believed that I would be affected by anything so seemingly ridiculous. But I was.
Upon returning from a four-month abroad program in China, I found myself the victim of an extreme case of culture shock. What I had become accustomed to had changed – and so had I.
I chose to study abroad in China during the fall of my junior year because it seemed to be out of my comfort level. I had never been there before, and more significantly didn’t speak any Chinese.
The very idea that my life in China was going to be unpredictable was, in fact, predictable. What was not at all predictable, however, were the feelings I was going to have when I returned to the U.S.
After hearing Mandarin Chinese spoken day in and day out and understanding only a small percentage of what was being spoken, I anticipated that hearing English upon my return would be comforting. Instead, I found it to be one of many disappointments. Now that I could speak with ease, I no longer was able to get excited when I could communicate with people. I also had no reason to improvise in situations with creative body language or hand gestures, a skill that I had spent the past few months mastering.
While missing certain aspects of a country is one thing, feeling out of place in your home country is another. Returning from abroad also brought a new sense of being unable to relate to others and questions I just didn’t know how to answer. How do you share with others an experience that only you had?
A simple, “It was good” quickly became my answer to the question, “How was your abroad experience?”
If discussing your experience with others is not the solution, what is? In my experience, thinking of reverse culture shock as a positive thing proved to be the answer for how to overcome it. Although it may sound like a negative aspect of study abroad, I have come to see the reverse culture shock experience as a sign of just how important study abroad is.
It has made me not only see how much I loved China, but it has also enhanced my appreciation of America.
For example, I am now grateful not hearing the constant noise of men spitting on the streets or being subjected to buying Chinese clothes which are almost always covered with bows and rhinestones.
Reverse culture is a blessing in disguise. It serves as a sign that adaptation to other cultures is possible and that in a short time you can learn new things about a different culture and yourself.
