Dragonized
- 2012-07-20
SMGS a lot of the reverse culture shock I think really comes from an idea of "Rosy Retrospection" which was a term I came across recently in another book written about relationships. When we leave a place we not only leave the projected sense of negativity but we also have no place to put our own positive projections for the short time being. Accepting a lower standard of positiveness can actually change your mind to the point of it needing to be re-changed back to what you had before, which can seem like learning a whole new thing in the beginning, but is just a matter of getting back the feeling of "being there" and "knowing" it on many levels.
Working overseas for a while can make you forget the good feelings you had back home, especially if you've been away for a while. It does take some time to get re-acclimated as the older you get, the less resilient you become. Even when I left the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia I missed the genuine hospitality I had received from a few of my students, which wasn't anything I could get really from my students when I was working in China. But what you have to realize is that we all live more or less in a suspended state of belief when we live overseas with judging many things, despite the numerous and genuine complaints we see on the boards.
Taking too much time away from home can actually make you feel like the norm back home doesn't necessarily seem "right". I hope you are adjusting. Socializing as well as treating yourself to nice little pleasurable things that you can only find back wherever you came from are things you can do to get re-acclimated.
Magister
- 2012-07-20
It's a good article and certainly some of the points within will resonate with many people who have returned home from working abroad.
Lots of things having changed with your neighborhood and group of friends from the last time you went home can be a problem. However, I also think that some expats returning home sometimes feel the opposite, i.e. nothing and no one have changed!
You find Your family/group of friends all have pretty much the same lives and continue the same social routines. Sure there may be a few details that are different but in essence they are the same people as when you left. On the other hand you (the returning expat) have seen and experienced many new things and led a life that was different to the one that you left behind. You may therefore feel that your perspective on things has changed from what it was before and you find it difficult to slip back into living your former life. The end result is still reverse culture shock just with a slightly different set of circumstances.
The above is written from my own experience of the first time I returned to the uk from living abroad (not china).
This article has struck a chord with me, and it is something I have discussed often with Silverboy and Turnoi and others on here over time:
http://www.echinacities.com/expat-corner/leaving-china-and-the-challenges-of-returning-home_1.html
Things moving on, while you have been in China.
The article seems very familiar to me.
Thoughts on this from other posters greatly appreciated?
San Migs//