Last update: April 16, 2017
If you have lived in another country, with a very different culture from yours, you will have noticed that some adaptations are a real challenge.. Cultural shocks, a different language, different people… However, this is just the beginning of a period of adaptation. Either way, there's not a lot of talk about readjusting when you get home, which can be equally tough if we've spent a lot of time away.
When we are away from home, it is normal to feel homesick. However, we never thought of returning one day and having to readjust to our country. Will it be a strange feeling, feeling like a stranger in your own home? A reverse culture shock, having to relearn how to live in your own country. This feeling is more common than we think.
Time and effort to adapt
When you arrive in a new country, you have to adapt to everything that is part of it. This not only implies traditions, but also landscapes, places and people. To this end, patience and effort will be key. The task of binding oneself to a place where one will live for a certain period of time has to be faced again.
But we already know this. However, we often ignore that we will have to repeat this adaptation process once we return to our home country. It's weird, but there is no worse feeling than feeling strangers in a place that you thought you were already familiar with, the one in which he grew up and which, now, is partly unknown.
Don't be too alarmed if you feel confused or have doubts about your personality echo in your head. It is quite natural that it has to do with this reverse culture shock that you are experiencing. You will feel awkward, a little strange surrounded by all those people who are of the family, but whose absence, due to distance and lack of contact, you have come to get used to.
Start thinking about your friends, how many things you can do in their company. And where is that place where I loved to eat? Darnit! They moved, changed their name or closed. Many things change over the years and if you are "suffering" from reverse culture shock, observing that everything is "out of place" will involve a double dose of tension.
Most people who, like you, have spent a long time outside his country of origin he must learn to live in it again. A completely natural process that must not cause sadness, which goes beyond nostalgia for the country left behind.
You certainly have many friends to contact and, if not, you can always make others. Act as when you arrive in a new place and enjoy the experience you are having. Without a doubt, it will enrich you.
Images courtesy of Brandon Kidwell
