I am 6 months home from almost 3 years living in Asia. For a while I thought I was over my culture shock, but truth be told, I’m not so sure anymore. I’ve realized that I seem to be going through another phase of integration – or discovery; one that doesn’t appear to have a name or even a mention on any of the culture shock posts I’ve found online, so I am dubbing it domesticism. So what is domesticism? Well, in order for one to understand I need to give an introduction of the beginning stages of reverse culture shock (RCS) because I find that many people have quite simply never heard of this before. For those of you who have lived abroad and don’t feel like reading a tldr post, skip to the 3rd from last paragraph for my explanation of domesticism.
Showing posts with label reverse culture shock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reverse culture shock. Show all posts
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Friday, December 14, 2012
Why is Coming Home Always Weird?
I am 6 days into my 2nd homecoming – back to Wisconsin after 2 years in the field. Unlike the first time I returned from Taiwan, I don’t think I am suffering from culture shock … but that isn't to say it has been easy. I feel somehow – off. It’s not jet lag though I have been trying to blame jet lag for my “comatose” state, as my family has taken to describing me.
I am being called comatose for my lack of responsiveness. I’m not actually sure what they expect of me. This is weird. These are people I’ve known my whole life – or their whole lives as the case may be – and yet I am not sure how to react to news: a new apartment, a redecorated room … that’s nice, I said.
I also don’t know how to talk about what I've been doing, and this goes beyond family. I stick with the superficial experiences mostly, like strange foods, but Asian food just isn't fascinating to me anymore. I’ve mentioned to a couple of people about the natural hot springs I went to shortly before I left Taiwan – but this was apparently not interesting to anyone else.
Another fascinating experience I had was being invited into a hostess club. Maybe I should write about that one here? I just don’t know how to explain it or how people will react. In fact at this point I don’t even know how appropriate it would be to bring up. Boundaries vary cross culturally and I find myself suddenly unsure of where some of those lie. I spent some time socializing with a few professors in Taiwan, but then felt awkward my first day back to campus in Milwaukee.
It’s not that I ever fit in 100% here, but I could at least play along once upon a time. Just before I left Taiwan a good friend of mine (Taiwanese) said that I needed to come back because I belonged there. Another friend (American) sent a Facebook message telling me I had gone native. I never felt “Taiwanese,” yet I wonder, could they be right?
I am being called comatose for my lack of responsiveness. I’m not actually sure what they expect of me. This is weird. These are people I’ve known my whole life – or their whole lives as the case may be – and yet I am not sure how to react to news: a new apartment, a redecorated room … that’s nice, I said.
I also don’t know how to talk about what I've been doing, and this goes beyond family. I stick with the superficial experiences mostly, like strange foods, but Asian food just isn't fascinating to me anymore. I’ve mentioned to a couple of people about the natural hot springs I went to shortly before I left Taiwan – but this was apparently not interesting to anyone else.
Another fascinating experience I had was being invited into a hostess club. Maybe I should write about that one here? I just don’t know how to explain it or how people will react. In fact at this point I don’t even know how appropriate it would be to bring up. Boundaries vary cross culturally and I find myself suddenly unsure of where some of those lie. I spent some time socializing with a few professors in Taiwan, but then felt awkward my first day back to campus in Milwaukee.
It’s not that I ever fit in 100% here, but I could at least play along once upon a time. Just before I left Taiwan a good friend of mine (Taiwanese) said that I needed to come back because I belonged there. Another friend (American) sent a Facebook message telling me I had gone native. I never felt “Taiwanese,” yet I wonder, could they be right?
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