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Reverse Culture Shock
Family
- Fitting back in; knowing they've changed and wondering how families will accept them.
- Not being able to live up to their expectations.
- Natural family's jealousy over son's or daughter's love for host family.
- Readjusting to manners and food.
- Being treated like a child, after having experienced a lot of freedom and independence.
- Being considered arrogant -- not understood and accepted.
- Boring family with tales of overseas life.
- Family will see them as more like host country's culture than American.
Friends
- Reactions of old friends to the "new me."
- Being able to communicate with friends.
- Old friends may have moved; need to make new friends in a younger class.
- Friends will think they're bragging and showing off when speaking about their experiences abroad.
- Not being able to live up to their expectations.
- Being able to pick up old friendships -- will it be possible?
School
- Making up a missed semester or year.
- Adjusting to coursework and American teaching styles.
Language
- Mixing foreign language with English.
- Losing the ability to speak the second language well.
Personal
- Missing host family and friends.
- Wanting to maintain some new attitudes.
- Loss of independence.
- Seeing America realistically; how to communicate this.
- Catching up on missed news, developments.
- Returning to host country.
- Conveying their exchange experience to those at home.
- Feeling more like the host country than American.
- Missing foods and other favorite items found in the host countries.
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