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As we approach the end of the semester, many of you are planning on returning home for summer. Family and friends are eagerly awaiting your arrival expecting to hear about your many adventures. Your mother is probably preparing all your favorite foods while dad is proudly calling all the relatives to let them know you are coming home and there will be a party for you. You now have the unenviable task of purchasing gifts and pleasing all the relatives and friends. Cosmetics, jewelry and scarves for mom, sisters, aunts, nieces, female cousins and female friends; neck ties, shirts and perhaps liquor and cigarettes for dad, brothers, uncles, nephews, cousins and male friends; and chocolates, UConn T-shirts and small toys for the children are just some of the items you will purchase. This is a daunting task as you try to please everyone on your endless list. Coupled with this exuberance of traveling home, is the unexpected phenomenon of "reverse cultural shock". There will be a moment in time when something is not in sync. The shock will occur when you least expect it. It is not going to be a big shock but a sudden jolt. You might "do" something or "say" something that will puzzle others or request something that you would never have done before. Hari, an Indian graduate student, would like to share his readjustment experiences with you. Hopefully, his experience may help you better understand "reverse cultural shock". Thank you Hari. Bob Chudy ************************************************************* Well, I haven't gone back to my home country since the day I came here. So, I know practically nothing about how it feels to re-enter a country after being away for a while. However, I have traveled extensively across the length and breadth of my own country. I was born and brought up in one part. I graduated in another part. Then, I worked in 3 different parts of the same country. Given that I come from one of the most diverse nations on the face of this earth, moving between regions itself was an awesome learning experience. The flexibility (that we acquire over a period of Time) in moving between cultures is what makes each one of us a better person. Going back to a different culture does look intimidating. Nevertheless, extrapolating my past experiences within my country makes me believe that a few adjustments/maneuvers will definitely make it an enriching experience. A few things that I have done in the past and that worked for me : 1. Reach out to people. Participating in sports, watching movies, and listening to music. Concerts are good ways of sneaking ourselves back into the culture. Sometimes, we may not like anymore the movies/music that we used to enjoy once upon a time. But, our relatives and friends may continue to like it. Turning down their offers, or raving about what we like now are sure ways to alienate them. Please do not do it if you look for a smooth transition 2. DO NOT react. RESPOND. In some countries the systems (Traffic, Government offices and infrastructure) may not be the same as what we have here in the US. I do understand it would be frustrating at times. Venting out the frustration will only make matters worse. I have a mantra when I get frustrated with such things - 'DO NOT react. RESPOND'. Most often than not, we end up in a quagmire because we react spontaneously to the frustration that acts upon us. Instead, if we take a few minutes to calm ourselves down, assess the situation presented to us, and then RESPOND, it almost always results in a resolution. Remember - the factor that may frustrate us is extrinsic. We have no control over it. But, the reaction/response that we produce is intrinsic. We have 100% control over it. Sometimes, that makes all the difference between making and breaking of a relation 3. Language. This is the 2nd most important communication tool (1st being Body language and facial expressions). I know it will be difficult to switch our brains back to our language considering that we had mostly been communicating in English here. People back at home might as well perceive this differently. A few weeks or so before leaving for our country, we could catch hold of some friends here on campus and talk in our mother tongue. That would definitely help towards resetting our brain to talk a particular language these are little thoughts that came to me when I thought about reverse cultural shocks. There is no hard and fast rule that these are THE ways to deal with. Each one of you will have your own ways that suits your personality the best. I hope these are generic ideas/tactics that could be easily tweaked to fit into your own personality. Hope this helps. Hari