Reverse culture shock is not something one really considers might happen when you have just returned to your native Country. But after perhaps working in another Country for a year or more, it is something worth preparing yourself for.

Culture shock is more commonly thought of and is a topic which no one really likes to talk about, as if it is like admitting a weakness in one´s character. I think it is fairly easy to assume that individuals vary in degrees of sensitivity and as a result people are effected differently by the complete change in their ordinary way of life from what they were previously used to. Of course the degree of ´shock´ is also dependant upon the individual´s positive or negative experiences upon intergration into the new culture. It is also dependant upon just ´how different´ the new host culture actually is to one´s own native culture. Typically it is like being dropped into a vast ocean and learning how to swim....all over again.

To any business person, overseas student or foreign employee, this is something one might expect and certainly experience. It is almost certainly something businesses should have an awareness of and perhaps even provide some sort of ´allowance´ for in this increasingly globalized era we now live in.

Reverse Culture Shock however is less talked about and is vastly similiar to the above but it usually involves re-intergration back into your own native culture. Once again the degree of ´shock´ felt is dependant upon individuals and importantly how much this person was ímmersed´ in the host culture and whether their experience was positive or negative.

Part of the process of adjustment is an incontrollable urge to compare and contrast lifestyles for better or for worse. But this sounds rather logical and obvious doesn´t it? The fact is that subconsciously and over time you pick up more and more of your host Country´s traits and even begin to think more in tune with the people of that Country and sympathize with local issues and affairs. Over time one also goes through a process of forgetting things about your own native lifestyle that are no longer important for your immediate survival. So then, the day eventually arrives when you jump onto the long, slender, shiny, metal cigar shaped thing - otherwise known as an airplane - and sit on it for numerous hours seemingly unmoving and get off the other end, to be faced with a fairly stark but ultimately familiar reality. Indeed I had a rather amusing experience of my own on a trip back to London from Seoul two years ago; I found myself bowing deferentialy to a rather surprised British Customs Officer at Heathrow and then saying, “Kam-sa-ham-nida...anyong-ee-ka-se-yo,” after he returned my passport.

Despite amusing incidents like this which certainly liven things up a bit and make you feel like a real ´prune´, it is a very real possibility that you may become depressed and emotionally torn in two. This is caused by the differences of your native Country and the host Country which you just left only a few hours ago. In this sense you have become almost ´homesick´ for a culture that isn´t necessarily your own and so things have spun almost completely around to have a ´reverse effect'.

Emotions generally speaking are almost certainly harder to understand so it should be no surprise that your behaviour on your return will be somewhat ....´abnormal´. During the first two months of my recent return to Europe from Seoul, I had a constant craving for mouth-watering and delicious Korean food and traditional beverages, not to mention the busy and colorful lifestyle and simply a desire to meet my friends again. I experienced a real desire of urgency to return to Seoul as quickly as I could and discovered my own native customs alien, insensitive, uninspiring or simply annoying. Logically these uncontrollable thoughts didn´t seem to make any sense and I felt like I was going ´nuts´ and that I had become a silent traitor to my homeland. Fortunately being able to blame these extreme emotions on ´Reverse Culture Shock´ took the ´sting´ away from this transitional period and added more logic to it in order to make a full recovery. (The goal-keeper has managed to save a devasting kick taken by a disorientated member of his own team and prevented a homegoal).

Stages of Reverse Culture Shock

(Extract taken from the University at Buffalo website , The State University of New York)

STAGE 1: Disengagement

While you are still abroad, you begin to start thinking about moving back home and moving away from your overseas experience and friends.

STAGE 2: Euphoria

You may be very excited to be back in your own country and others may be equally delighted to have you back. After people express their pleasure at seeing you again, and listen politely to your stories for a while, you may suddenly and/or painfully realize that they are not particularly interested in what happened to you and would much rather prefer to talk about their own affairs.

STAGE 3: Alienation

In this stage, you experience dampened euphoria with feelings of alienation, frustration and anger. You may even feel like an outsider - a foreigner in your own country. It will be different from how you remembered it (The pollution may be worse. The pace may be more hurried and hectic, etc.) Suddenly you feel irritated with others and impatient with your own inability to do things as well or as quickly as you hoped. Resentment, loneliness, disorientation and even a sense of helplessness may per vade.

STAGE 4: Gradual Readjustment

The fourth stage of reentry includes a gradual readjustment to life at home. During this stage, you will no longer be shocked by the variety you find on the supermarket shelves and be able to contain your comments about differences between cultures that come to your attention. If you have difficulty filtering out the foreign words in your conversation, you will find that your English-only conversational skills will improve during stage four.

As the airplane crawled its way up into the sky and through the clouds into the perfect blue away from Incheon airport at the end of August, I choked back my emotion as I felt renched apart from the place I have called ´home´for two and a half years of my life. I will find my way back again...where else in the world could they possibly serve a really fabulous “So-Kalbi?”