Study abroad often seems to bring with it notions of adventure and grandeur, images of world-famous museums, historical sites, exotic cultures—in other words, the excitement of immersion in a new culture, or the experience of something different. Nearly 50 percent of students here choose to study abroad for a semester, and three majors (the College of Letters, East Asian Studies, and Psychology) actually require the experience as part of their academic programs.

But what happens when you come back from Madrid, Paris, or Taipei to the old, unchanging comforts of Middletown?

Earlier in the semester, Carolyn Sorkin, director of the Office of International Studies, held a small reception for study abroad returnees, where she facilitated discussion on the experiences of returning. She introduced the idea of “re-entry,” or “reverse culture shock”—a phenomenon that is less well-known than its counterpart.

What is reverse culture shock? Students who return from abroad find themselves, once again, in a transitional state—except this time, students are not adjusting to a new culture, but back to the culture of their home country.

Reverse culture shock might hit harder simply because students do not expect it to happen.

“Outbound students expect to face culture shock as they adapt to a new society, a new pedagogy, new norms and expectations,” Sorkin said. “Returnees from study abroad, on the other hand, don’t always think about the fact that they will be coming back to a community that has continued to evolve in their absence, or that friends and family will have to adjust to how the students have grown and changed during their time abroad. In other words, returnees may not predict that they’ll have much adjustment to do upon coming home, but in fact they often find it challenging to communicate the depth of their experiences abroad to their Wesleyan and home circles.”

Katlyn Batuigas ’12, who spent the spring semester, as well as her summer, in Lima, Peru, flew back to the U.S. in September, just a few days before classes started.

“Before I came back, I suspected that I would have a difficult time going back to a campus atmosphere, where my life would be centered around the same few buildings and routines, and that was true,” she said. “The first three weeks were miserable; I was depressed. I asked myself: ‘What was I doing here? I don’t want to be going to classes.’”

Marjorie Rivera ’12, who studied abroad for a year in Taipei, Taiwan, said she had been eager to leave, but quite unexpectedly had difficulty adjusting to being back.

“I had spent my time abroad feeling as if I needed to be as far away from home as I could, to branch out, be independent, explore—but now that I’m back in the States, all I want to do is go back home to New York. And sometimes being back at Wesleyan just feels too far, even though I’m only two hours away.”

Experiences of readjusting are often defined by the places one goes to. Some even argued that the phenomenon of culture shock doesn’t exist.

“I had the realization that my life abroad was essentially the same as when I was in college,” said Peter Myers ‘13, who studied in Madrid, Spain. “I feel as if I’m different in a lot of ways, but it has absolutely nothing to do with being in a different culture. It has more to do with being in a different place, being with different people, and responding to them. If I had been transported to Los Angeles and done the same thing, I feel as if the same thing would have happened.”

Myers argued that the most productive aspect of being abroad had nothing to do with cultural difference; rather, it had to with reconciling his expectations with the reality of his experience.

“I think the cross-cultural native is kind of bullshit, especially given how all Western cities are basically the same because of globalization and all that,” he said. “It is sort of a cliché, but placenessless is a pretty real phenomenon; all the clubs play Black Eyed Peas, and there are McDonald’s everywhere. I think for me, the real change was realizing that my study abroad experience wasn’t going to be what I expected, and then reconciling that, which in itself I thought was a very important process.”

Elizabeth Wojnar ’12, who decided to stay in Paris for a full year after initially only intending to study during her fall semester, felt that both leaving and staying had appeal.

“I would have stayed in Paris for the summer if feasible. However, I did miss my family, America, and my friends, so I was not upset about going back. In Paris, I missed my friends and family and just the ease of familiarity—and at home, I missed Paris and living in a city, and all the fabulous cultural and culinary offerings.”

One recurring difficulty is that of communicating the abroad experience to others, especially if the country in question was not a “mainstream” choice, or if the experience was not necessarily a positive one.

“One of the most difficult things was people asking how my trip was and only wanting to hear the funny stories or what I liked,” said Tresne Hernandez ’12.

Hernandez participated in the International Honors Program (IHP) where she travelled to D.C, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Hanoi, Vietnam, and Islington, South Africa to study public health.

“I think that I realized a lot of my emotional limits while I was abroad, and I did not want to trivialize my experience to ‘I had to bathe in a bucket every day,’” Hernandez said. “My homestays and the people I was with deserve better than that.”

Rivera also struggled with describing her abroad experience in all of its complexity.

“If I wanted to talk about it, I would have to really want to talk about it…and if I did, I would have to put it in as positive terms as possible,” Rivera said. “Condensing a ten-month long trip where you’ve had successes, failures, frustrations, and little triumphs along the way into a fifteen-second sound bite to someone who’s not familiar with your country is nearly impossible. You just do the best you can in being very succinct, which can be hard.”

Most students felt that study abroad was a worthwhile experience and one that they would not have given up, yet they also noted that difficulties were part of the experience.

“The most common preconception is that study abroad is fun,” Sorkin said. “While it can be, and certainly sometimes is, study abroad requires the participant face a lot of emotionally and intellectually daunting concepts: from different pedagogical models to different cultural expectations. Done well, study abroad balances frustration, excitement, and uncertainty. It’s a fabulous way to learn.”

Though striking this balance is no easy task—and can even result in frustration and unhappiness—fighting to make the abroad experience worthwhile can be a formative, life-changing event for students.

“I don’t feel for one second that, even though I didn’t have a great time, my experience was not worth it,” Rivera said. “I think very strong negative emotions are just as valuable, if not more so, than positive ones. Because you’re feeling something. So in the end, my experiences did help me reach my bigger goal of knowledge. Getting through the reality of the day-to-day is a big part of study abroad. It’s not a vacation, and it’s still another part of life.”