Say you spend a semester abroad. Every day, you walk the streets of Lyon, France or Valencia, Spain and bask in the rich culture and history of the people and environment around you; every day, you breathe in air sweetened by an unknown indigenous flower that doesn't exist in your hometown; every day, you learn something new about where you are, about the world, about yourself.
And then you must return home.
Culture shock often occurs upon arrival in a foreign land. After the initial excitement from being in a different setting subsides, many travelers are overwhelmed by the unfamiliar environment. Their anxiety persists until the traveler grows accustomed to the foreign culture, language and customs.
Reverse culture shock, however, occurs after the journey back home. After developing daily routines, making friends and adjusting to a different way of living, travelers gain new perspectives -- and sometimes find that home isn't quite how they remembered it.
"You're really excited to be home, you're really excited to see your family," study abroad advisor Chris Payne said. "But when you get home, you realize that things have moved on, things have changed and home is not really what home was at a particular time."
According to Craig Storti's "The Art of Coming Home," a book about coping with reverse culture shock, the familiar places, people and routines associated with home produce a feeling of trust and security.
"When you go to a foreign country, you expect it to be difficult," Payne said. "You know that things will be different, so you prepare yourself for that challenge."
But many students do not expect that the return home is often just as difficult. Though they expect to readjust easily to their former lives, Payne said, it is usually a more difficult transition. Travelers may also find that their perspectives on the United States and its inhabitants have changed.
Second-year College student Liz Greksouk said her trip to Honduras during Winter Break with the Global Medical Brigade -- a group that works with doctors and pastors to offer medical care in villages -- opened her eyes to a different culture.
"I try to remember that there is a world outside of the U.Va. bubble, outside of classes, that we sometimes forget while we're so caught up in other things," Greksouk said. "It's hard to imagine the stuff that's going on [in the world] when we have clean water and medical care, [yet] there were so many people we saw without it."
Not all students who study abroad, however, are as affected by their experiences as Greksouk was. A student who spends his time abroad on Facebook or only with other American students will be less likely to experience reverse culture shock, Payne said, but will not have made good use of his time. Reverse culture shock can be enhanced by the special treatment and attention a traveler abroad may experience through interactions with foreigners.
"If you were studying in England, and people hear your accent, people will automatically want to come up to you and want to talk to you," Payne said. "When you're back at U.Va., you don't have that as much anymore. A lot of students don't want to say that -- they don't want to say that they like feeling special -- but that's part of studying abroad. You do become a minority, and for lots of students, it's the first time that they may become a minority."
One of the most common problems returnees face is that their life at home is not as new and different as the one they lived abroad.
"To go from a place where every day is exciting and every day is new and you're constantly having challenges and constantly running on adrenaline, to go back to the same old, same old is kind off a downer and hard at first," said third-year College student Caitlin Ham, who traveled to Beijing last spring.
Ham recalled that while readjusting to life in the United States, she was struck by the average height of fellow students; in China she was surrounded by people her height -- 5-foot-4 -- or shorter. She said she also had been so used to speaking Chinese that she would periodically use Chinese expressions in speech.
"I tripped over a person at one point a week after I got back, and I said 'I'm sorry' in Chinese, and [he] looked at me and said 'What?'" Ham said. "The little habits you got used to -- when you get back, you're like, 'Wait, I don't do this anymore!'"
Reverse culture shock can affect daily life in varying degrees. According to Payne, some students experience short-term reverse culture shock immediately after coming back. Others experience long-term reverse culture shock months after returning, reflecting more about how the experiences changed them.
"I didn't have reverse culture shock at first because I started working immediately after I came back ... and I was only around a couple of people," fourth-year College student Chrissy Parcells said. "Once classes started, I wasn't used to U.Va. and how hard U.Va. was anymore. I wasn't used to being around so many people around campus ... and to be spread out and just have to do so much work again took a while to get used to."
After recovery from reverse culture shock and reintegration into life at the University, it is common for students to reflect on the way they live their lives and adjust them.
"I think my personality changed a lot," fourth-year College student Lauren Dobbs said. "I was always Type A ... and then coming back from my study abroad experience really made me mellow out and take things as they were, and just to be more relaxed about everything."
Many returnees are frustrated to find that friends are not interested in listening to stories about their experiences. To provide relief to those fresh from travel abroad, the International Studies Office offers an optional welcome-back reception, as well as a team of 16 peer advisors to facilitate the transition back to University life.
"Students often recall that when they come back from, say, China, [others] may only want to hear about it for a few minutes," Payne said. "The welcome-back event gives them a platform to share their experiences and to share their stories."
The University also offers an internship and volunteer program with the ISO and encourages returnees to join different international communities on Grounds. Such communities include the language houses on Grounds, the International Residential College and clubs.
In offering these services, Payne said, the ISO hopes to "increase the awareness on Grounds [about study abroad experiences], particularly among the faculty. If you just got back from studying ... in a different study style, it's hard for you to come back and readapt to the American system again. People might not be aware that you're going through that, and that's a legitimate concern because [reverse culture shock] could affect you academically."
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