Hi. I want to ask a question who did a study abroad for more than three months. Have you had any counter culture shocks? And how did you overcome it? For me, I studied abroad in Canada about five months and after I came back to my own country, everything looked small and I felt that people are not so friendly in my country. I am still not sure I overcome counter culture shock or not. However, I have a kind of fear to get use to my own country's culture again.
Any correction for grammar mistake are welcome!
Thanks
I can understand what you call the culture shock. I felt it a little bit after I had been away for one year as an exchange student in High School. I had to readjust to a strict curriculum at school, at more traditional relations between teachers and students. On the other side I was so glad to regain my freedom to be able to go to school or wherever walking or by public transport, to go out on Saturday evenings without a fixed date but just with a bunch of friends, not to be anymore the focus of the attention of anxious foster parents abroad. What I loved most coming back was to find again the cultural life of my hometown with theaters, bookstores, cinemas.
I had been abroad in a small rural town.
But one feels so enriched having had the experience of living abroad and sharing the everyday life of a family and getting to know from the inside some aspects of her culture.
Probably, we can influence people around us to make it better ;)
When I returned to Mauritius after the U.S, I was struck by how small everything seemed, and also how infuriatingly inefficient. I had always been annoyed by the inefficiencies of daily life (something breaks, no one fixes it; being late and cancelling appointments is almost to be expected; simple procedures become time-consuming and complicated due to lazy and bureaucratic workers). These were magnified after living in the U.S. where people are rarely late, quick to fix problems or at least respond, and everything from banking to taking buses is almost ridiculously simple. I really missed America after 3 days home.
After living in France, I was struck by how many errors there were in supermarkets and menus at home. They try to write in both French and English, but there are elementary errors in both languages. I wish we would focus on one and get it right, it's so embarrassing.
Most of all, I missed the cultural life of these places: being able to speak with people who like books, ideas, and sit quietly to have a good conversation. I should note I lived in cities, but this aspect of life is sorely lacking in Mauritius.
Not a big fan of the island if you couldn't tell...
