The Return

I have been doing some research for an upcoming job interview in the study abroad field. One of my potential employers has a fantastic resource on all things related to cultures and study abroad. As I am reading, I am realizing that I am still very much going through what in the field we call "reverse culture shock". This basically describes the re-entry process and the challenges and joys that happen for most if not all people when they return from living and traveling overseas.

Typically, the reverse culture shock process is longer than the cultural adjustment phase that a person goes through when they go to a new country. There are a lot of reasons for this. I knew all of this before I came home. Don't we all like to think we are special and somehow above or beyond what "normal" people go through?

I think I have fallen prey to this sneaky little hope. That somehow I could maybe...well, not totally avoid this whole messy deal of smashing these radically different experiences together into a coherent and synthesized whole, but that maybe just...I could shorten it, or skim it, or shirk it, or control how I experience it, somehow.

I have an announcement to make though. I am just like everyone else. I am still experiencing both visible and invisible manifestations of this process. Did I mention I'm not very patient? That means that not only is there a small part of me that is annoyed that people who know about this whole deal and tell students about it as a part of their job aren't somehow immune to experiencing it themselves but that I am doubly irritated when I'm not sure how long this process will take!

There is a sweetness too when I give myself over to accepting that I am going to feel the way I feel for a while. Maybe a long time. And then, I can embrace this whole re-entry process and learn from it. The overseas experience is not complete without it. Perhaps if I am fortunate enough to get a job in study abroad in the near future, I will also be a better advisor because I remember what it was like. What it is like. I will know how they feel. I will be able to relate to them in a way I would not have been able to otherwise.

It is always exciting and interesting and fun to talk about and remember going abroad and adjusting to a new culture and country. People will ask what that was like. But what the photo album doesn't show and the part that is hard to talk about to friends and family is the part when you come home and have to sift and sort everything into something that makes sense in light of your past, your present, and ultimately your future. It is the Return and it too is a journey.