{"id":4372,"date":"2021-06-14T05:57:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T19:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insyncnetworkgroup.com\/tips-for-expats-to-manage-reverse-culture-shock\/"},"modified":"2023-07-03T01:59:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T15:59:32","slug":"tips-for-expats-to-manage-reverse-culture-shock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insyncnetworkgroup.com\/tips-for-expats-to-manage-reverse-culture-shock\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for expats to manage reverse culture shock"},"content":{"rendered":"
Relax returned expats, questioning your decision to return home is just part of the process.<\/p>\n
If I had a dollar for every time, I had a returning expat say to me \u2018What have I done?\u2019, I would be running Insync from my private jet.<\/p>\n
I know when I get hit with this question, I am dealing with someone in the throes of reverse culture shock and it is hard to find an expat who after living for many years overseas, has not experienced this phenomenon.<\/p>\n
Good news is, it is a feeling that passes.\u00a0 Bad news is, you don\u2019t quite know when it is going to hit or how long it is going to last<\/p>\n
The trick for newly arrived repatriates or those thinking about coming home is to be aware of it and prepared.<\/p>\n
It is the reaction to returning home from living a life overseas and the emotional stage of re-adjustment.\u00a0 It\u2019s the feeling of being fish out of water, even though you know the water really well.<\/p>\n
How long does it hurt for?<\/strong><\/p>\n Every returnee is different and so experiences vary, however from the hundreds of repats I have spoken to, what I have generally found is that most repats start to experience reverse culture shock after being home for a month or two.<\/p>\n Often when you get home, the excitement of being back in Australia and reconnecting with family and friends is enough to distract from the reality of day-to-day life for a few weeks. It is often after the boxes have been unpacked and when repats start getting into rhythms of work, life and family that reverse culture shock hits.<\/p>\n Fortunately, it is a phase that passes. The full period of transition to that feeling of \u2018being normal again\u2019 does vary, in my experience anywhere between six months and two years.\u00a0 The length of transition time often depends on how long an expat has been away.<\/p>\n Here are the top tips from the Insync repat community on how to soften the impact of reverse culture shock.<\/p>\n Realise that feeling like a fish out of water is just part of the process and over time it will pass. Don\u2019t try and fight it. Realise that while you were overseas not only did Australia change, but you did too and both parties are trying to find their way to a new norm!<\/p>\n Sarah Ntiamoah<\/a> is a returned repat after 10 years in the UK. She said she only became aware of reverse culture shock after returning home and reading an article in her first few months where she recognised the symptoms mentioned matched her own. She says realising that reverse culture shock was just a phase, made it easier to deal with and says she wished she had known in advance so she could have been better prepared.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When people and life look the same, it is easy to assume you are returning to your old life but you are not.\u00a0 You have changed \u2013 you have changed through experience and are often coming home with different perspectives, interests, friends and passions than those you had when you left.<\/p>\n Bridget John<\/a> returned to Melbourne during COVID leaving her life in Morocco behind.\u00a0 She said to treat coming home like you are starting in a new country because in many ways you are.\u00a0 When you went overseas you had put yourself out there and made friends, connections and experiences happen \u2013 retain this focus when you get home and do the same.<\/p>\n Coming home, looking for a job or starting in a new office and re-igniting or starting relationships means you are often \u2018on\u2019 all the time.\u00a0 This can be exhausting.\u00a0 A great piece of advice for returned expats I got from Michael Waite<\/a>, a recent repat from the US, is to get some rest.\u00a0 Realise that finding your new rhythm can take some time and requires a lot of energy.<\/p>\n\n
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