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khivey 
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 Topic: Reverse Culture Shock
Posted: Feb 21 2012 at 3:11pm |
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Has anyone who has lived abroad for more than 6 months and returned to your country experienced this? How did you deal with it?
I will be returning home to the states in Aug/Sept and it will mark 2 years that I have been gone. I am still undecided as to whether or not I am going to stay in Spain longer or stay when I come back. I am pretty settled here in Spain and moving back I will be starting completely over. Nothing new, as I have started over before..but this is a bit different because I haven't been living in America in so long.
Just want to have an idea of what I will be up against.
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TokyoRose
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Posted: Mar 11 2012 at 9:21pm |
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I'll be honest. I didn't deal with it well...so I went right back to Japan after a year in the US.
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khivey
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Posted: Apr 03 2012 at 7:22am |
That is what I am afraid of....lol. Thank you Tokyo Rose. Do you have any family in Japan? What do you feel is keeping you there?
I have a feeling Spain will be my home and I am really fighting it. We will see...I am definitely going to be in the states for a good month or two so that will give me some indication..I hope.
Edited by khivey - Apr 03 2012 at 7:23am
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Serwa
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Posted: Apr 07 2012 at 4:47pm |
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I lived in Turkey for three years and absolutely loved it. I'm not a U.S. native so returning to the States was very difficult. Even after being back for two years, I want to go back every day
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Kocoa
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Posted: Apr 08 2012 at 8:13am |
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I just came back from a trip to the States after living in Australia for 2 yrs. I definitely felt weird being back. I never really thought of it but even the food portions were just staggering (I could never finish eating anything because the portions overseas are way smaller). Having to add on sales tax was pretty annoying too. Everything over here actually costs what it's labeled as. In any case, I was glad to get back to Oz because I just don't feel at home in America anymore.
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khivey
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Posted: Apr 08 2012 at 3:32pm |
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Oh wow! Yes, it is that way here to Kocoa..everything is IVA included so what you see is what you pay. As for food portions..I think they will be the same because they eat a lot here in Spain..but it is a very good diet. When I went back to visit for a week last May I felt out of whack and ready to return, but I thought it was because I didn't stay long enough here and I wanted to experience summer..now that I am planning my return back to the states this summer I am just very indecisive. That is why I plan on staying at least a month or two before returning (if I do). I'm just really very happy here...argh! Thank you all ladies for your stories! Keep em coming!
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khivey
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Posted: Sep 11 2012 at 12:30am |
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When I went back to the states for the 2 1/2 weeks I was there..it felt normal..the only thing that really stood out for me is that there were so many black people hahaa..Man...living in Spain for all of that time, it was a rarity to see black people..so it was nice to see so many. Also, I noticed I paid more attention to how people spoke and what they said..I felt like correcting them and a few times I did..that is just from teaching English, you hear the mistakes.
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rubynaturalprincess
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Posted: Sep 11 2012 at 10:38am |
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I experienced reverse culture shock every time I travel back from visiting family in Ghana and then wonder why my parents hadn't raised me there... its much more simple, if you have the means to raise a family.
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Posh Ams
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Posted: Sep 20 2012 at 2:49pm |
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I experienced ths when I came back to the UK after living in Sardinia. It was so hard at first but I soon got used to it after a month or two.
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marnee
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Posted: Jan 04 2013 at 3:35am |
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This is an old thread, but i'm going to comment anyway. YES! I definitely experienced this. I lived in France for a year (i'm American) as part of an exchange program. It felt incredibly strange returning to the US after so long. So much so, that I started looking for another exchange program to go into immediately. I had met my now husband while I was in France. He is Finnish. As soon as I graduated from university, I move to Finland and have been here for almost 15 years. I do get homesick...very homesick and love to go back to visit. But, now that we have children, i'm in Finland to stay. At least until they are out of high school. My eldest (i'm pregnant now) is 3. He won't start school for another 4 years. So, i'll be here for a while.
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