Everybody knows that it’s normal to feel a little uneasy when you first start teaching English abroad. It’s a sensory and cultural overload, so naturally it will take some time to adapt to your new surroundings. Although… it feels like by the time you’ve adapted to living and working overseas, its time to come home again! But what most people aren’t prepared for is reverse culture shock!
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You’ve probably heard of ‘culture shock’… the feeling that you don’t belong, when living in another culture. But it’s unlikely that you’ll have given reverse culture shock the same amount of thought. When you first venture abroad you expect everything to be different, new and exciting. But when you come home, you expect everything to be the same as it was when you left – which it never is! Coming home after your time abroad will probably be just as exciting as leaving in the first place…
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The main thing to recognise is that this is completely normal! You’re bound to feel a bit teary eyed after leaving a country that you have come to love. Even though it might not have been plain sailing, your time abroad has been life-changing. No doubt you’re saying to yourself “Oh, this time last week I was…”. But don’t beat yourself up about it; at least you know you’ve had the time of your life, right?!
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But be careful, because you may not only feel sad that your time overseas has come to an end, but you may also start to feel distanced from things back home. Some things may begin to seem trivial compared to your life left-behind! In general, the more you’ve integrated into your host country, the harder it will be to re-adjust to life back-home.
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Your relationship with your friends may also change. Your life has moved on whilst you’ve been abroad, but so have your friends’ lives… and not always in the same direction… But then again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Variety is the spice of life! And you’ll have much more to share and discover with your pals. Even though they may ask you (what feel like) surface-scratching questions and make jokes about your sun-tan, it will probably feel like you’ve always got more to tell them. But don’t over-do it and don’t panic!
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This is also a normal occurrence. Just because they don’t want to know every single detail straight away doesn’t mean they don’t care at all. I’m pretty sure you’ll have a lot of stories to tell them but, naturally, your trip is not as significant to them as it has been to you. All they know is what you’ve told them, they haven’t had the opportunity to experience and understand it in the flesh, for themselves. So try not to get frustrated if they don’t seem 100% engaged with your story telling. (They’re probably just jealous because you’ve had the time of your life whilst they’ve been slogging away in a call centre all year!)
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The main thing to remember is that this feeling is only temporary and that things will get better. Although, it can take a long time to re-adjust to living life back home, and certainly won’t happen overnight. There are, however, a few things that you can bear in mind which may help you along the way. These include; recognising that you feel the way you do, keeping in touch with the friends you met whilst overseas, joining a group and getting involved in a new challenge, getting some career advice, having a break and spending time with family, getting a check up and if you’re having trouble eating/sleeping then don’t hesitate to contact someone who can help.
Whatever you do and however you cope with moving back home, remember the lessons you’ve learnt and the experiences you’ve had, and allow them to influence your life. You will become a more patient, accepting and understanding individual; all of which will grow your personality and develop you into a much more rounded individual.
Have you had any experience with reverse culture shock? Tell us about it below!
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That's all true - I was back in the Uk for 2 weeks before I came to Spain, and it was much weirder than I expected. Fistly, I couldn't get used to being able to understand what everyone around me was saying. My Spanish isn't bad, but you tend to walk around in a bit of a bubble when everyone in the street/bar/restaurant is speaking another language. Especially if, like me, you're a wee bit deaf! All of a sudden i was connected to everyone and had to make a conscious effort to tune out of private conversations.
Then I had to remember not to speak Spanish in shops and buses. i enjoyed the food side of things, never really got into Ecuadorian food and beer. I was straight down the pub for a sunday roast and a guiness.. mmm......
The worst thing is that after a year away I have totally tuned into Ecuador time. It's been nearly 3 months and I still can't sleep before 3am. Mind you, it's too hot anyway. Trouble is on workdays I have to get up about 5.30!
When I talked about Ecuador at home I often thought people were getting fed up with it, but what can you do? Not talk at all about your last year? You're out of touch with your own country, you realise how much time people spend talking about TV, and they can't believe you don't know the currently popular music and films,or news either. I don't want to talk about TV! I've been through a whole new experience, learning a new trade in a foriegn country with no family or friendly support, we had a coup, some volcanoes and a couple of minor eartquakes. And that's just Ecuador, imagine if I'd been in Japan or parts of China that have suffered from floods. Tv is boring!
But that attitude can be patronising. Also, those people might not have been stuck in a call centre, they may have had life changing experiences aswell. I got home to find that a regular in one of 'my' pubs had been murdered by his flatmate. Some of my friends had got married, or divorced or had children and you have to come down from your excitement and pay proper attention to them.
Best answer for me was to get straight back into travelling.... or is it just that I've got a short attention span? Probably something in common with a lot of teflers. But you have to keep asking yourself the big question - why did I do TEFL? 'because I love travelling' is not really the right answer - 'because I love teaching' is better.
Hi Andy! Great article, it's so easy to forget about reverse culture shock when you get back home!
Thanks for sharing,
Katie
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