Reverse culture shock was twice as hard for me as regular culture shock. After four year abroad, it took me about six months not to feel utterly weird, and probably a year to fully adjust.
Part of why it was so hard for me is that reverse culture shock is invisible. Abroad, you are clearly a foreigner and people cut you lots of leeway if you act strange or don’t seem to get something. And chances are you know at least a few foreigners who have gone through the same thing, so at least you aren’t too alone.
But in the States, people don’t “see” you are going through and adjustment period, and so your feelings just had up being weird and out of place. And you probably don’t have as many people in the same boat as you are to share with. It’s just a lonely, odd, uncomfortable feeling to be going through this huge adjustment that most people around you don’t really have a reference for.
My favorite reverse culture shock moment was standing in line for the airplane home from Beijing, wondering why everyone was talking with these ridiculous valley girl accents and cowboy drawls. It’s a strange thing to suddenly “hear” your own accent.
Hey if you’re rich and not involved with someone who thinks Trinidad is Mayberry you’d love the place.
A big goddamn plus is the fact temps run 70-90F year round, makes me appreciate it seeing people in the USA saying they are snowed in.
EDIT:LOL tonight I tried to buy some packaged sushi at a place, cashier told me it was not for sale despite being out you know for customers to pick up. ?!
My wife said come on can you not think like a Trini yet, probably someone forgot to label it with a price so everyone else is too lazy to. LOL
I’d love to live in the UK. If I learned languages more easily, Germany or Denmark would be cool as well. Being Jewish (well, nonpracticing and agnostic, but to most bigots that doesn’t really matter), it restricts things a bit for me - I mean, I’m fine visiting an anti-Semitic place for a while, but I wouldn’t like to live permanently in a place where I regularly expect to encounter prejudice. Unfortunately that’s quite a bit of the world, but hey - you can’t get good bagels outside NY, anyway.
I am American and grew up in Nevada. I have lived in the Republic of Georgia, Czech Republic, UAE, and for several months each in Germany, New Zealand and Thailand.
I spent about 12 years overseas. There are many things I prefer about the US, but not everything. I keep a home outside the States and spend 4 or 5 months there each year. I like a mix of both.
Nope, not even then. I lived in northern Thailand for years in the 1980s, then returned to the US for four years. I have always found this “culture shock upon return” business to be greatly exaggerated.
It always amazes me when I meet someone who has never left their hometown to visit another country. My dad was a career US Army who traveled a great deal - usually every four years - and I was born during one of the posting in Germany, so I have become comfortable with international travel. During summer breaks from university I would head out friends to visit some new countries. I went to a few crappy locations but regretted none of my choices. This desire for international travel carried into a job with a large O&G company, living and working around the world.
My family and I have enjoyed living overseas and learning about new cultures but our home of record is the USA ( Northern California ) so when it come time to settle down, it will be the USA.
Personally, I could tolerate living in Canada, though I would miss US sports on television. Europe would be too far from family, other continents just wouldn’t be my cup of tea though Australia might be the most tempting of the lot.
Obviously, it hits different people in different ways. I was told to expect culture shock on arrival in my foreign home. I got none of that. Or I should say, very little. Transitioning to my foreign home was a breeze. But the return, which I was not warned about it, was really, really weird and a bit of a difficult transition mentally. I don’t know what exaggerated stories you’ve heard about culture shock upon return, as I haven’t heard any, but whatever they may be, I’m sure it wouldn’t be an exaggeration in my case. It was like returning to a room in the house you’ve lived in for many years, where somebody just slightly changed the arrangement of furniture and the color of the walls, and it feels different and wrong, but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is that has changed. Like I said above, it literally took me about two to three years to really feel “back home.” I envy those for whom there is no such or minimal transitional hurdle.
I still need to finish my major and my military contract before I think about volunteering again.
You’re right, every government is different and that’s something I haven’t considered. I haven’t had any bad experiences with racism and such, I can imagine how that could be a problem but I don’t think I’m too concerned about that. Nothing is perfect, if I have to deal with a whole new set of problems, so be it. As long as I have a plan and not go there “blindfolded”, I’m good.
I was born in NY, Bronx and lived there till I was 18 years old, then joined the US Navy. I was so used to my surroundings in NY that I had no idea how sketchy the area was. I didn’t really care about my living preferences either.
I would come back for Christmas and say “I lived here? Man this place looks ghetto and shitty!” I didn’t have a car so when I went to Florida and Virginia, I didn’t do squat but stay in my room. Every now and then I went out with someone but that’s just it. I’m stationed in Virginia Beach, VA and even though I hate not having some stores or places to go eat within walking distance, I didn’t have trains or buses like in NY… Now, whenever I come back to New York, I feel like I should give it a chance (ride the train anywhere), I’d like to go around and see if there’s anything that’s worth checking out.
But if I talk to a foreigner about NY, they’ll be surprised and say “Wow!” but my expression is
I have a car now though.
I would love to take up that opportunity, how long would they usually stay in that country for?
What about Computer Engineers?
This is one of the pros I’d consider, being in the US. Resources and education in the US. Although from what I’ve heard, people say “You can get free education if you are a citizen of that country.”, I feel like there’s something missing out of that.
With Tuition Assistance and the G.I. Bill, it doesn’t affect me really. I talked to a Civil Engineer yesterday so he could talk to me about his job and he mentioned that there are wealthy families outside the US that send their children here for college for a higher education.
I’m 20, single and I am in that position right now. “People and things will move on without you”. If I want to know what they’re doing now, I’d give them a call, or skype. Plus, I wouldn’t mind stopping by each year to visit my mom for Christmas.
PITA? I don’t know how this would work out. Never thought about this.
What were you doing at the time?
It sounds similar to what people say about the Navy and why they joined.
The first time (9 months) it was work abroad for a few months via BUNAC (British Universities North America Club), then volunteering at a muscular dystrophy camp in Slovenia and then about three months on post-war reconstruction in Western Slavonia, Croatia (I was specifically there to fill a position for a photography instructor.) This is while I was in college, the middle of my junior year.
The five plus years in Hungary was a year and a half later, where I worked as a photographer at an English language business weekly for a year and a half, and then freelanced for various international publications (mostly Car and Driver and Business Week.) I was also involved in a couple of music projects, which was a lot of fun, but that wasn’t real income.
Hey if you’re rich and not involved with someone who thinks Trinidad is Mayberry you’d love the place.
