Many expats have difficulty transitioning back into their home country. So if you are waking up in a sweat at night, wondering why the world around you is so different, yet strangely familiar at the same time. And wondering why you can't seem to relate to your friends and family as well as you used to. Relax, it's okay, research shows that you're not alone.
In fact, statistics show that most individuals who come home after spending a long period of time overseas go through a readjustment period. So it's not so much of a matter if you will have to get used to your home again, but how.
During your stint overseas, you adapted to your host countries culture, laws, and customs. You ate food that you never imagined you would have, for me that was live bugs in Thailand. Spoke another language that initially sounded like gibberish. And you probably saw things that made your mouth gape open, just as mine did when I saw 20 tanks roll past in Jeongok, South Korea.
Now that your back home, you may find yourself in a position where you have to start your life again. Your friends may have moved onward and upwards in their careers, gotten married, even bought houses. While your still trying to figure out your next move.
This could set off nightmares about being trapped in our own virtual reality of ground hog day. Where every day seems the same, dull and grey, because its not as exciting as it once was for you. The 9 to 5 routine may seem boring, the food bland, and parties not as exciting as they used to be.
Even difficulty finding employment as our skills have developed for an overseas job market, and we may find it difficult finding a position where we can utilize the skills and talents that we have developed while living overseas.
So what is a resilient traveler to do in times like these?
5 Ways to Readjust Back to Your Home Country
1) Gradually learn to readjust back into your own culture. No-one is really expecting you to wake up the next morning, drink a late, and then be exactly the same person who left to go on an adventure a year or so ago.
2) Realize that in order to survive and thrive while overseas, that you have adapted to the ways of life of your host country. In order to thrive back in your home country that you will have to go through a readjustment stage. Many of the things that you had to do such as walking across the road while there's traffic coming towards you, in order to get to the other side, are both dangerous and perhaps even illegal in your home country.
3) Make allowances for things that might seem different, unusual, or even slightly offensive to you, just as you did when you initially went overseas.
4) Eventually your friends and family grow tired of hearing about your host country. Staying in contact with friends whom you met while you were away enables you to discuss your experiences with someone who truly understands what you went through.
5) Find ways to enjoy aspects of your host country while your at home. Such as going to foreign supermarkets or restaurants. When I got back to New Zealand, I visited a Korean supermarket with a friend who had also lived in Korea, it was fun being able to eat Korean food and discuss our experiences without having to explain anything about the Korean culture.
6) Find ways to maintain links with our host country. Such as by befriending individuals from our host country at our home country, or by eating out at foreign restaurants.
7) May quickly grow tired of trying to readjust back into our own culture and wonder whether to go back overseas. This can lead to a pattern of being a long term traveler, where we are either thinking about or planning to travel to our next destination.
8) Apply for new positions, up-skill, and take an internship to increase your skill set. This may include taking a new course or even starting at the bottom again.
9) Volunteer. This helps you to turn your focus away from your own situations and give back to your community. Ultimately this makes your community a better place to be and helps you feel better.
10) Realize like most things this is just another temporary stage in your life.
Having spent a large proportion of my life living overseas, I'm not entirely sure how your expat experiences have shaped you as a person. What I can tell you though is that ultimately through learning to adapting to several different cultures your worldview will broaden. Enabling you to appreciate life from several different perspectives.
In fact, statistics show that most individuals who come home after spending a long period of time overseas go through a readjustment period. So it's not so much of a matter if you will have to get used to your home again, but how.
During your stint overseas, you adapted to your host countries culture, laws, and customs. You ate food that you never imagined you would have, for me that was live bugs in Thailand. Spoke another language that initially sounded like gibberish. And you probably saw things that made your mouth gape open, just as mine did when I saw 20 tanks roll past in Jeongok, South Korea.
Now that your back home, you may find yourself in a position where you have to start your life again. Your friends may have moved onward and upwards in their careers, gotten married, even bought houses. While your still trying to figure out your next move.
This could set off nightmares about being trapped in our own virtual reality of ground hog day. Where every day seems the same, dull and grey, because its not as exciting as it once was for you. The 9 to 5 routine may seem boring, the food bland, and parties not as exciting as they used to be.
Even difficulty finding employment as our skills have developed for an overseas job market, and we may find it difficult finding a position where we can utilize the skills and talents that we have developed while living overseas.
So what is a resilient traveler to do in times like these?
5 Ways to Readjust Back to Your Home Country
1) Gradually learn to readjust back into your own culture. No-one is really expecting you to wake up the next morning, drink a late, and then be exactly the same person who left to go on an adventure a year or so ago.
2) Realize that in order to survive and thrive while overseas, that you have adapted to the ways of life of your host country. In order to thrive back in your home country that you will have to go through a readjustment stage. Many of the things that you had to do such as walking across the road while there's traffic coming towards you, in order to get to the other side, are both dangerous and perhaps even illegal in your home country.
3) Make allowances for things that might seem different, unusual, or even slightly offensive to you, just as you did when you initially went overseas.
4) Eventually your friends and family grow tired of hearing about your host country. Staying in contact with friends whom you met while you were away enables you to discuss your experiences with someone who truly understands what you went through.
5) Find ways to enjoy aspects of your host country while your at home. Such as going to foreign supermarkets or restaurants. When I got back to New Zealand, I visited a Korean supermarket with a friend who had also lived in Korea, it was fun being able to eat Korean food and discuss our experiences without having to explain anything about the Korean culture.
6) Find ways to maintain links with our host country. Such as by befriending individuals from our host country at our home country, or by eating out at foreign restaurants.
7) May quickly grow tired of trying to readjust back into our own culture and wonder whether to go back overseas. This can lead to a pattern of being a long term traveler, where we are either thinking about or planning to travel to our next destination.
8) Apply for new positions, up-skill, and take an internship to increase your skill set. This may include taking a new course or even starting at the bottom again.
9) Volunteer. This helps you to turn your focus away from your own situations and give back to your community. Ultimately this makes your community a better place to be and helps you feel better.
10) Realize like most things this is just another temporary stage in your life.
Having spent a large proportion of my life living overseas, I'm not entirely sure how your expat experiences have shaped you as a person. What I can tell you though is that ultimately through learning to adapting to several different cultures your worldview will broaden. Enabling you to appreciate life from several different perspectives.
No comments:
Post a Comment