Detailed presentation on reverse culture shock

1. REVERSE CULTURE
SHOCK
Prepared by-
Deepika Tripathi
PGDBM- IInd Year
2013-2015

2. REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK
Reverse Culture Shock is a term that is typically used to
describe the unanticipated adjustment difficulties that many
expats experience when returning to their normal lives.
The difficulties they may face upon re-entering their own
culture. (re-entry shock, own-culture shock)
Typically the more successful they were in immersing
themselves in the country and culture where they have just
been, the more difficult a time they will have re-adjusting to
their own culture, and getting back into the routine of their old
life.

4. MORE DIFFICULT THAN
CULTURE SHOCK???
• It is not expected
• Intensity experienced abroad is difficult to be understood by
others.
• Seems easy but is way more difficult !

5. SYMPTOMS !!
• Vague disoriented or frustrated feeling
• Boredom and insecurity
• Disdain for things Indian
• Feelings of alienation and withdrawal
• Need for excessive sleep
• Communication seems difficult
• You find it difficult to explain things coherently
• Others don't seem to understand you or hear your stories
• You feel resistant to family and friends
• It's hard to relate to others, or find common ground with them
• All you can think about is going back!

6. ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES
• Noise level is different
(you now hear all of the background noise that you might have
tuned out if you were learning the language in your host country.
Suddenly you hear everything and it feels like sensory
bombardment)
• Weather (humidity and temperature)
• Hours of sunlight
• Urban / rural settings
• Racial makeup of population
• Smells and sounds
• Pace of life and activity around you

7. Coping Strategies
• Get together with others who have been to the same area as you
• Maintain a sense of patience and humor, similar to when you initially went
overseas
• Keep in touch with the friends and contacts you met while you were away
• Seek out international news so you don't feel so abruptly cut off from your
experience
• Look for ways to use the new skills and knowledge you gained while abroad,
i.e. giving a slide show or talk at your local library, Rotary club, etc.
• Write about your experience, and share it with others, or submit it for
publication
• Maintain a healthy diet, and exercise
• Visit elementary/middle/high schools to speak about your experience
• Get involved with international students on campus

8. EXPERIENCES QUOTED:
Returning to India, while driving home from the airport, I was struck
by how polluted and how much dust Delhi had in contrast to the clean
and wide American streets “You can eat off the street here!” I
announced. My family turned around and looked at me as if I had
gotten off a spaceship rather than a plane. Reverse culture shock had
already set in.
- An expatriate from India to US
I was an alien in my own country. My
own attitude has changed, so it was
difficult to understand my own
customs.”
-Landis, 2004

9. THANK YOU !!