Most of us are familiar with the term culture shock. Google defines it as the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.
I moved across the world to *UniLand for college about two years ago, and I still experience culture shock to this day. The shock ranges from the simple amazement of the different foods people in UniLand eat to being thrown off-guard when someone questions me on something that is considered a taboo topic in the place I originated from (California). Culture shock is something people told me about and I expected I would experience when I went abroad. However, no one ever mentioned reverse culture shock, or the feeling of disorientation upon returning home after spending months or years abroad.
*For my privacy, I’ve decided to call the country I’m studying in Uniland (university + land)—such a creative name, I know.
The reverse culture shock hits me the most during social interactions. For example, in UniLand, people keep to themselves in public. I’m always surprised when I return to my suburban, Californian town where people seem inclined to say “good morning” to me when I’m walking down the street or start up a conversation with me in the grocery store. It’s nice being acknowledged, but I’m just not very used to it anymore. I always end up feeling a little shy during those encounters, not just because they catch me off-guard, but also because I’m not used to the way people back home speak English anymore.
I’ve become accustomed to using simple words and sentences and toning down my American accent when speaking to people in UniLand. So when people speak to me with thick, loud, and very American accents, I get a bit nervous. The thing about California is that it has many diverse communities, like the one I’m from. People wouldn’t assume or can’t tell that I’ve been abroad, so these interactions are completely normal to them. I probably come across ~awkward~ as a result.
I never understood why my mom or dad got excited when meeting someone from their country outside of their country until now. There’s an instant connection when I meet someone in Uniland who is also from the U.S.A. However, when I return home, I also feel a connection to people from Uniland. The best example of this I can give is when I had to go to the Uniland embassy in San Francisco to sort out some documents. Being surrounded by all the Uniland people in the embassy made me feel at home and more comfortable than I was when I was walking down the American city streets five minutes before.
It sort of feels like I’m in an ~awkward~ in between where I think of home as home, but home doesn’t feel like home anymore.
(It’s a similar feeling to being mixed-race, but I’ll save that for another post.
Update! You can click here for that post 😊.)
That’s basically all for this post. Reverse culture shock is just an interesting phenomenon that I thought I would share with all of you. My classmates in Uniland who are also from the U.S.A. can relate, and I’m sure many others can as well. I personally find social media helpful in keeping up with the things people back home are talking about (ex. local news) and how they’re talking (ex. new slang) so I don’t feel as ~awkward~ upon my return. I’d also like to add that every culture is different, and I’m not trying to bash American or Uniland culture. There are things from both cultures that I can learn from and take away.
Belle Can Read 
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