Adjusting to a new-old reality
If you are feeling off after coming home from studying abroad, you are not alone. A lot of students feel this way, even if no one really talks about it.
You just spent weeks or months living a different life. And now you are back, and things feel… strange. Like you have changed, but everything else stayed the same.
That feeling is real, and it is okay.
You might miss the people, the food, the language, even the rhythm of the streets. You might feel out of place, like you are caught between two worlds. Things that once felt normal now seem unfamiliar. This feeling has a name. It is called reverse culture shock.
When you are abroad, everything feels new. Every day brings a little surprise. You meet new people. You try new foods. You visit a lot of new places. That sense of adventure can make you feel more alive. So of course, coming home can feel a little disorienting, like you have been gently uprooted from a life you just started to make your own.
But here is the good news: you can carry that feeling of growth with you. You can still be curious. You can still explore.
Take a different route today. Take a new class. Go somewhere in your city you have never been. Cook a dish you learned abroad. Message your friends from your program. Keep the momentum going in little ways.
And remember, you have not lost anything. You are just in a new stage of the journey. You can go abroad again. And even if you do not, you will always have what you learned, and who you became, while you were away.
We are here if you want to talk.
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