Hey Nomads! Welcome back to another study abroad tips and tricks post!
So now that your study abroad experience is nearing the end, you’re probably wondering how to go forth and reacclimatize yourself to your home culture again. As crazy as it may sound, you might have picked up some words and phrases that may seem funny back home. I know while I was abroad in London, there were many phrases that I had grasped saying overseas, but once arriving back home, I had to tweak my phrasing and revert back to my old ways. I’m not saying that I came back with an accent, although that would be pretty amazing if I came back with a British accent, I did find myself using British terminology. For instance, rather than saying my friends and I lived in an apartment in London, I would say that my friends and I lived in a flat. To this day I still find myself referencing our flat…that may have been a bad example since I haven’t reverted back to the word apartment. Anyways, a better example may be the use of the word lift. In London, and many places across Europe, we would reference an elevator as a lift instead. Although both words make sense for the use of a machine that lifts, or elevates, you up to another floor, this was one example that I found myself switching back to once landing back home. Considering there are likely many instances of new terms incorporated in your dialect overseas, it’s not uncommon to maintain these new words and phrases throughout your dialect back home. I appreciated my time abroad because it helped me to expand my vocabulary and allowed me to understand new meanings for everyday tasks and words. That said, don’t feel obligated to revert back to your native tongue when returning back home, rather find ways to slyly incorporate what you’ve learned into your native language. Like I said before, I still use the term flat and I know there have been numerous instances when I’ve referenced British, or other European, terminology. It’s totally normal, and honestly encouraged, that you incorporate the little things you’ve picked up on while abroad. I will say, though, don’t be surprised if you start to receive some deer-in-the-headlights looks from your friends and family when you first land back home and start using a different dialect…it takes time to get re-acclimated.
Along with incorporating the words and phrases you’ve learned overseas back into your native tongue, it’s important to also readjust back into your old habits. For me, I was so used to getting up and ready, walking to the bus or tube, and then going into the city, yet back home in Tennessee, things are not that urban. I was now finding myself having to adjust to my friends being back in different states and living at home for the next month and a half before headed back to normal college life…I will say, coming home was great for being with my family more. I definitely appreciated the family dinners we had during that time of landing back home (although I do still miss Nandos!). That said, I think it would have been even better if my family felt like moving to London permanently! I’m sure there’s something there for all of us! But, considering they did not exactly jump at my suggestion for us all to move to London, I boarded the plane and headed home to my lovely Tennessee backroads and farms…goodness life in London is so different than Tennessee. I’m still trying to convince everyone to move overseas with me. I’ll keep you Nomads updated on if my family ever agrees!🤞
Now that you’re probably tired of hearing about my love for London and all things British culture, I want to ease into discussing what you can expect when arriving home. If you’re anything like me, the moment you walk in the door you’ll be bombarded by family (and dogs!) and the first thing you’ll probably want to do is unload all your souvenirs. You may be thinking, “why in the world would she want to start unpacking all her souvenirs after a long 8.5 hour flight?” Now that may sound crazy, but let me assure you, you’re likely going to want to start telling all your stories from the trip as soon as you walk through the door. I strongly advise you to just pause. Take in your friends and family! It’s likely been several months and they’ve missed you. Hold off on the unpacking and just sit and chat with them. I will say, when I got home, the first thing I wanted to do was give everyone their gifts and tell them all the stories I had from traveling—the ones that hadn’t heard yet anyways—but I regret not waiting to dive into the stories. I spent my next month and a half annoying my mom about all the things I loved about Europe, and trust me, it got old to everyone really quick. I found myself treating study abroad as my life. It was everything I had expected and planned for growing up and it was over. I had given everyone their souvenirs and had told all my stories, I didn’t know what else there was. I had no more new pictures to show. I kept retelling all my funny stories. I felt like there was nothing more to do with my experience but to just reminisce in my head, or hope to make new friends eager to hear my monologues of study abroad (most of my friends studied abroad with me, and the rest I kept in contact with consistently in London, so I didn’t have many new stories to tell them either). My number one, key piece of advice for arriving back home is to take it step-by-step. Don’t feel obligated to spill all your adventurous stories at once, but don’t also bottle everything up for yourself. It’s been several months, your family and friends are likely dying to see you (and hopefully you with them!), use the early days of being home just to balance your stories with theirs. I’m sure there’s been a lot back home that you may have missed as well!
My point is to acknowledge that there are going to be some changes in your usual routine when returning home from this grand adventure…I’d say focus on combining what you know from home and what you’ve learned abroad and go forth as the newly and culturally established person you are!
Navigating Nomad 