Re-entry

So, what is Re-entry or Reverse Culture Shock?
Re-entry:
Leaving a host culture to return to our “homeland”
Reverse Culture Shock:
During this re-entrance into a new world, one in which our views and selves are also changed, individuals “…will encounter culture shock similar to that which they experienced when first arriving overseas” (Knell, 2006, p. 9)
Gullahorn and Gullahorn W-Curve Cultural Adjustment Model
What Connects Two Worlds
Recommended books
*Some available for Kindle purchase or available in the TF bodega in Panecillo

Reentry Handbooks and Resources Online:
- Foundation for Sustainable Development-
http://www.fsdinternational.org/sites/default/files/public/WELCOME%20BACK%20Handbook.pdf - Diversity Abroad:
http://www.diversityabroad.com/parents/reverse-cultural-shock Middlebury:
http://www.middlebury.edu/international/sa/returning/reentry_resources Global Links:
http://www.globalinksabroad.org/for_alumni/reverse_culture_shock/ Traveller’s Library:
http://www.anyphone-anytime.com/Travellers_Library.htm GenXPat, book:
http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/-/9781931930239/chapter-11dot-reverse-culture-shock/179 Seattle University:
http://www.seattleu.edu/abroad/Inner.aspx?id=78330 Students Abroad.com:
http://www.studentsabroad.com/handbook/reverse-culture-shock.php?country=General University of Florida:
http://www.ufic.ufl.edu/sas/ReverseCulturalShock.html Indiana University/Perdue University:
http://new.ipfw.edu/offices/iss/international-programs/returning.html University Studies Abroad Consortium:
http://usac.unr.edu/information/alumni/re-entry-and-reverse-culture-shock.aspx Gustavas Adolphus College:
https://gustavus.edu/cice/reentry/ReverseCultureShock.php CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/24/cultural.reentry/index.html Oregon State University:
http://oregonstate.edu/international/studyabroad/students/return/home/shock University of CA, Davis:
http://caps.ucdavis.edu/resources.html TEFL Worldwide:
http://www.happycatstefl.com/general-advice/5-tips-for-dealing-with-reverse-culture-shock/ Northwestern University:
http://www.northwestern.edu/studyabroad/returnees/adjusting-to-life-at-home/reverse-culture-shock-and-re-entry-strategies.html Smith:
http://www.smith.edu/studyabroad/returning_challenges.php Academic Programs International:
http://www.apistudyabroad.com/alumni/re-entry-information-2/ X-expats:
http://www.x-expats.com/reverse-culture-shock.html Vagabondish:
http://www.vagabondish.com/how-to-survive-reverse-culture-shock/ Studentsabroad.com:
http://www.studentsabroad.com/handbook/adjustments-and-culture-shock.php?country=brazil Global Semesters:
http://www.globalsemesters.com/reverse-culture-shock.html Matador:
http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/5-things-not-to-do-after-returning-from-abroad/ -
My Global Education:
http://www.myglobaleducation.com/article/v/16121/5-ways-handle-reverse-culture-shock/ Unite for Sight:
http://www.uniteforsight.org/cultural-competency/module11 - Spanish Studies Abroad:
http://www.spanishstudies.org/ReturningHome-id-448.html
Tips for your Friends and Family
University of Denver:
http://www.du.edu/intl/abroad/pdf_docs/twelvetips_parents.pdf
Foundation for Sustainable Development:
http://www.fsdinternational.org/sites/default/files/public/Handout%20for%20Friends%20and%20Family.pdf-
Diversity Abroad:
http://www.diversityabroad.com/parents/reverse-cultural-shock
Blogs
- Reentry: Finding the Heart of Home- http://melibeeglobal.com/2013/01/re-entry-finding-the-heart-of-home/
http://altonline.blogspot.com/2012/03/reverse-culture-shock.htmlA woman and her family’s return to the US after seven years in the UK:
http://reversecultureshock.com/about/ Why No one Likes the Friend Who Studied Abroad:
http://thestudyabroadblog.com/blog/2011/08/16/reverse-culture-shock/
Videos/Vlogs
FizzyLemon (Steve) is very funny, but relatable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbtsQYMxgk8
University of Montana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZAJHF4bn6g
Some students present their hardest parts and what it was like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSVyRKI1nrw
1 of 4 series in RCS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGjhYt2DkTs&feature=plcp
One young man’s vid of his return from Japan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOsuLT_dIHs
A young woman’s adjustment to US culture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai1OdYyIU2Y
A student’s first reverse culture shock experience after spending the Fall 2011 Semester in Perugia, Italy. She takes her video out into the grocery store:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-25hG-cM4tAThe Journey Back from Exchange: Go Global:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy5QMZNhdms
Novelty wears off
Escape and withdrawal
Avoid seeing people
Don’t accept invitations
Increase in sleep
Anxiety
Resistance to adjustment
Reacting to things or noticing how
home doesn’t measure up (Storti)
Critical of home country (Storti)
Mood swings
Idealizing time abroad
See how your changes now set you apart
Feel misunderstood and/or alienated
Unsure you should have come home
Tired
Lower immune resistance
Loss of appetite or binge eating
Overwhelmed with responsibilities of starting over
Numb
Miss speaking your foreign language
Pace of life
Feeling of helplessness (Brown/Montemurro)
Restlessness
Reverse homesickness
Boredom
Inability to focus
Uncertainty and confusion
Call or write to your host family
Skype, email, FB, Google voice, texts via Skype or your own phone
- You can send letters for your host family to Tandana in
Ohio, and we will deliver them when we have the opportunity. Please mark clearly who the letter is for.
Counseling services
Interact with speakers of the language you spoke while abroad
Make scrap books or post pictures
Stay in touch with alums and friends from your time abroad
Share reflections on your experience and browse reflections from others in the Tandana community- Stay engaged through social media
- Tandana's
Facebook page - Tandana
Staff Facebook group - Tandana's
LinkedIn page - Tandana
on Twitter - Watch Tandana
videos on YouTube - Write a post for
Tandana's blog and follow it to see other posts.
Professional and academic inclusion of experience
- Give presentations at local schools
Do trainings or presentations for local study abroad office or schools on the country, your experience, etc.
Incorporate your experience into your resume
Offer former TF volunteers and interns the opportunity to work and volunteer with you in the future

Join the TF or another international organization's board if a position is available
- Seek out opportunities to use skills and remain connected with TF
- Consider coordinating future programs
- Special projects that come up - Tandana can always use volunteers to work on various things. Share your ideas for projects to take on or skills such as:
- Translation
- Graphic design
- Outreach
- Video production
- Recruit future volunteers and interns. Your help in spreading the word makes a big difference.
Write in a journal, blog, or an article for a paper or other publication
Volunteer to work with immigrants or refugees from the area you lived in
See how one fellow thought through the challenge of talking about her friends and her time in Ecuador.




