When a sojourner returns to his or her home culture, he or she will experience reverse culture shock, or reentry shock. This occurs because the sojourner returns home as a different person, with new experiences and knowledge. This personal change, a
long with expectations that things will be the same, can cause the sojourner to become disoriented and frustrated (St. Ambrose University, 2006). Erla, who returned home to Iceland after studying in the United States, describes her reentry. “Surprisingly, I felt like a stranger in my own country; when I tried to describe all the wonderful, dreadful, amazing, beautiful, and funny things that I had experienced, it seemed like my family and friends weren’t interested” (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Family and friends expect sojourners to return “a little different, but basically the same as before they left” (Martin & Nakayama, 2009).My father experienced reverse culture shock when he returned from India after only ten days. It was his first trip abroad. When he returned home, he found that very few people wanted to hear about the Asian Indian culture and all that he had experienced. I remember that he would convert U.S. prices into the price in rupees, feeling the need to draw a comparison between the two cultures. For the most part, it was only a few people, who had been overseas or were actually interested in learning, who listened to his experience in India. But even those few, myself included, could only listen for so long. My dad became frustrated and rather judgmental of the “closed-mindedness” of his “so-called friends.” He eventually did begin to adjust, but the exact cause of it is unknown to me. It was so gradual that I did not even notice it at first.
Now that I can identify what my dad went through upon reentry into the United States, and why he went through it, I hope to be better able to understand and be helpful to other people who are experiencing reverse culture shock. Understanding what they are experiencing may help me to be patient and listen to their stories. I also hope that learning about reverse culture shock will help me in the future to cope with it upon returning to the United States from abroad. Knowing that things will be different, and that I will return a different person, may help me in lowering my expectations of my return and aid in lessening the effects of reverse culture shock.
*Sorry about the length of this video. This was the shortest video that was any good.
References:
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama T. K. (2009). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
St. Ambrose University. (2006). Cultural adjustment. Retrieved from http://web.sau.edu/studyabroad/Parents/Cultural%20Adjustment.htm
It is true that reverse culture shock sometimes is harder than simple culture shock. I do experience a little bit every time I went back to my hometown. Not only the place has changed, but myself has changed, too. Since my point of view has changed, people around me will change their thoughts about me.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have ever thought that reverse culture shock would have been worse than culture shock but now I kind of understand how it would be. Nice video also.
ReplyDeleteI also find this concept very interesting and yes, I also agree with Weiting that reverse culture shock is harder than simple culture shock. When you mentioned about your dad, it reminds me to my dad who also travels a lot which I think after travelling for so many places all these years, he probably has build a multicultural identity and experience less culture shock in returning. I should be prepared because I want to find a job that allows me to travel a lot.
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