HOME SWEET HOME

A Culture shock is not an uncommon phenomenon. Most of us, when travelling to unfamiliar
shores would be shocked not to suffer some disorientation at being flung into a new time zone,
operating under a different set of beliefs and traditions to those we are used to. However, reverse
culture shock - that same sensation experienced upon returning to one's home country after time
spent abroad - is often an unexpected surprise. The extent to which one suffers will depend upon
many factors. However, re-entry in the worst of cases can lead to the asking of such basic
existential questions as 'who am I?' or 'where do I belong?'

B To answer these questions, it is necessary to consider the often pleasurable experience of first
setting foot in the foreign country that is to become your home and the four phases of the
subsequent cultural readjustment. First is the honeymoon period. Upon arriving, a stage of
acclimatisation is expected and often exciting, as new cuisine, timetables and customs are
discovered. A new language may be challenging, you may have a new job, new friends and
neighbours, a new home. Yet once the novelty wears off, it may be replaced by feeling lonely
and homesick. This is the negotiation period, followed by the adjustment phase, during which,
over time, these 'fish-out-of-water' feelings subside, until you subconsciously adopt the once
strange and foreign as extended facets of yourself. This place now feels like home and the fourth
stage - adaptation - is complete.

C But what is home? Craig Storti in his book The Art of Coming Home gives two definitions.
The most literal is that home is the place you are raised, where you share a language and
behaviour with others. The more profound is that 'home' relates to feeling and routines, the place
you are understood, accepted and forgiven, where you can truly 'be yourself'. And here begins
the problem. Those who have spent significant time abroad, and have paid visits to their country
of origin are undoubtedly familiar with the euphoria of catching up with loved ones, knowing
they will soon be back 'home' and again living their daily routine. The very definition of 'home',
and with it identity of self, can become confused as sufferers feel they have one foot firmly
planted in each culture, yet actually find themselves neither here nor there.

D The enthusiasm those living abroad feel when visiting their homeland can be replicated when
returning permanently. Feelings of longing for 'home', having possibly been idealised, may make
the prospect a shining one. Storti, quoting a theory proposed by Lysgaard in 1955, views the
transition as U-shaped, with this initial feeling a high point. Nevertheless, once reality sets in and
initial euphoria wears off, it can be quickly replaced by alienation. You no longer feel you fit
into your own culture, family, friendship network, customs: home. This is the bottom of the U.
Gullahorn and Gullahorn expanded the U hypothesis in 1963, introducing their W-curve
hypothesis, exemplifying both the initial shock and that felt upon returning. Both 'shocks' may be
considered to contain the same four aforementioned phases.

E This dip to the depths of the second U can be explained by several factors. Firstly, you have
come to view old norms, values, faces and places from a 'foreign' perspective not available to
you pre-travel. Additionally, returners' expectations may be of 'taking up where you left off',
only to find a new reality that appears similar, yet whose functions are completely alien. Further
considerations are the voluntary or involuntary nature of one's return, length of time abroad, the
degree of interaction with the foreign culture, and the levels of difference between it and the
home culture. Research suggests millions of people, their families and children included, are
affected by culture shock at any one time, the reverse type being much more complex to
overcome due to its unexpected nature.

F So, how to deal with this and the questions raised earlier? The US Department of State, in
offering advice to repatriates, states three main considerations. Firstly, you have changed. Your
recent life-changing experience means your idea of self has evolved and morphed. Additionally,
home and your perceptions of it have been redefined, along with your relationships and, finally,
your culture has changed. Having taken on a new cultural identity, now you must adapt anew.
Storti also discusses four effects seen during this process. Those returning can become highly
critical and judgemental of the home environment, in addition to feeling marginalised as they no
longer fit in. A change in day-to-day routines, paying attention to patterns and customs can be
exhausting, and these former three points and the disconnection they create, can lead to
withdrawal and depression.

G As more research into the condition becomes available, maybe combating it will lie in being
aware of it beforehand and creating the mentality to deal with it: forewarned is forearmed. Pico
Iyer, a British-born essayist and novelist of Indian origin, residing mainly in the US for the last
48 years, yet spending as much time as possible in Japan over the last 25, offers sound advice. In
a talk for TED he discusses his multiple ‘origins’, rationalising them as 'taking pieces of many
places and putting them together in a stained glass whole’. He goes on to discuss home as
anything but a physical place, echoing Storti's second definition of home, stating 'home has less
to do with a piece of soil than a piece of soul', suggesting the new international, intercultural you
is a positive to be embraced, not a negative to be denied.