Life changes when you leave your home country to a new place in order to acquire good education. But, the real change is when you actually return back home after a good three or four years. There are a lot of weird things that you experience once you return from studying abroad.
During these years, you prepare yourself to become a part of the new culture, learn new traditions and make peace with the living situation. And then you have to return home and are highly expected to get adjusted into your old culture, that too very quickly. This reversal of cultural shock can severely affect your day-to-day life once you return home.
- The Initial Shock Of Climatic Change
Not every country enjoys all four seasons in this world. Once you are back home, you would terribly miss the beautiful tropical climates since the weather that you experience when you return home can possibly be just two seasons of fall and winter that dictate half the year.
- Sweet Old Memories Of The Place
You spent a good amount of time at the new place so you naturally have a lot of memories. The museum tickets, coins, receipts and bus tickets make you cry inexplicably every time you find one in your jacket or purse. You cannot throw them away as they remind you of the fun times but at the same time, you feel depressed whenever you take a look at them and remember the memories attached with them.
- Adjustment- From Independence To Dependence
You may have experienced personal independence and academic freedom while studying abroad; you feel yourself a lot more self-confident and mature. You undoubtedly feel a change in your personality in many ways. The biggest challenges after returning home would be to adjust yourself with the ‘new’ you and the not-so-new surroundings. The majority of the people who return from abroad experience a loss of their identity during this time.
- Social Networking Sites- Running Out Of New Pictures To Share
You posted so many pictures of the new place that theInstagram and Facebookarenow full of them and you do not have anything new to post. All you are left with are the throwback pictures that would surely decrease the number of likes and comments.
- Feeling The Skills Your Learnt From Abroad Are Useless Back Home
You experience a change in your behaviour, attitude and knowledge while abroad. For instance, you may have developed competencies such as acting appropriately in a totally different culture, talking about new subjects, learning to find your own way in the new city, new research skills, etc. Once you return from abroad, you may feel extremely frustrated if you feel these skills are of no use and people roll their eyes when you talk about such things.
- Explaining Other How The Time Abroad Changed You
It is very difficult to deal with family and friends once you return home from abroad. It is very important to realize that other people also changed while you were gone. It should also be kept in mind, that all of your changes will affect your family and friends too. Many returnees are pressurized from the family and friends to return back to the person they were before. The most difficult aspect of this issue is telling others about your experience abroad. Many returnees feel that their family and friends do not seem to be very interested to hear their experiences if told beyond general questions and polite inquiries.
Returning home from studying abroad is without a doubt, a very difficult and a challenging phase of life. You may feel difficulty in re-adjusting back home but there are also a lot of positive changes that will help you overcome the stress and help you deal with it in the perfect way. Overcome stress and anxiety after returning from abroad and cherish your life to the fullest.
Author Bio:
Alison is a social media expert currently working for a prestigious company that offers help to students who want reference guides for their programming assignments. In spare time she writes blogs on topics related to social media analysis, etc.
