If you have lived in another country with a very different culture than yours, have you noticed that there are adaptations that are problematic: cultural clashes, a language and very different people ?, but this is only the beginning of a period of adaptation. There is little talk of rehabilitation on our return to our home country, which can be just as difficult if it has been a long time to stay abroad.
When you’re out of your country it’s normal to miss your home, however, you certainly never thought that if you ever came back, you’d have to refit yourself to your own country, it’s a very strange feeling. Do you feel foreign in your own country? It is a reverse cultural adaptation: to relearn to live in the country itself. This feeling is more common than you think.
- It was very difficult to adapt to a new country.
- But the hardest thing was coming home and realizing it didn’t fit anymore.
When we arrive in a new country, we have to adapt to everything: new customs, landscapes, places and people, patience and effort will be fundamental for this. You’ll need to create new links to this place where you’ll spend some time and change the way you act.
However, this is something you already know. However, what you didn’t know was for you to do what you do now to get fit, you should do it again when you get home, it’s complicated, but there’s no worse feeling than feeling strange in a familiar place, where you were born and raised. , which now seems unknown to you.
Don’t get too stressed if you feel confused or if doubts about your identity cross your mind, it’s quite natural and has to do with the reverse cultural clash you’re experiencing, you’ll feel uncomfortable, a little strange, surrounded by all those people who are your family, but whose distance and little contact you’ve lost your privacy.
We should not regard reverse cultural shock as unnatural, some feel more, others less, but this happens to everyone who has traveled and lived in another country.
You start thinking about how far you’ve strayed from your friends and the places you loved to go. Where are they? They have moved, renamed or closed. Many things change over time, and if you go through this reverse cultural clash, you’ll notice that everything is “out of place,” which means a double dose of stress.
You will be frustrated by the new customs acquired in the country that you once considered strange, but which are now much closer than in the early years, you will notice that supermarkets offer different products, meal times are different and you may feel some discomfort. .
But this setback won’t last long. Think about how long it took you to learn to live in the country you lived in. What was the first thing you did? Definitely breaking the insulation. Get out of your house, because meeting people and places will be essential to get rid of that barrier that limits you.
Find a new way to reconcile with your place of origin and take advantage to visit places you don’t know, don’t reject the new identity you acquired in the country where you went to live, don’t try to eliminate it. It would be bad for your self-esteem, because you’ve expanded your world view and that’s very positive.
Coming home can be a very rewarding experience if you reject all the negative feelings that are invading you, now you see the world from two different angles and you are an expert in overcoming cultural clashes, do not try to avoid them, since they are natural. Surely you will have to regain control of your language and gradually stop thinking about what you were used to.
Coming home and feeling like you don’t belong here doesn’t have to be a negative thing, but a new experience that will bring you many positive things.
Most people who, like you, have spent a lot of time outside their home country, must relearn how to live there when they return, it’s a natural thing that shouldn’t cause you any sadness, just to lose everything you’ve been through. .
However, there are many friends you can contact again and, if that’s not possible, you can always make new friends, act like you’re getting to a new place and enjoy the experience you’re living, it will certainly be very rewarding.
Images courtesy of Brandon Kidwell.