Heading back to your home country after finishing your studies is something many international students look forward to. What could be more comforting than being surrounded by the familiar faces of loved ones in a place you know by heart, eating the food and speaking the language you grew up with?
Experiencing different parts of the world is a wonderful thing that has massive benefits, but moving back home isn’t always as easy as picking up where you left off. You might notice some big changes have happened while you’ve been gone—especially in yourself—and adapting to those can be risky to your health and wellbeing.
Te Herenga Waka graduate Adela Černigoj not only has first-hand experience of the reverse culture shock phenomenon, she’s also researched it extensively for her PhD in Health Psychology. Originally from Slovenia, Adela has spent long stints studying in Türkiye and Aotearoa and says she was taken by surprise every time she returned because she thought it would be easy to readjust to life back home.
“The first time I returned home after living abroad this reverse culture shock took me by surprise. I didn't expect that there would be any difficulties because at the end of the day, you're returning back to your home culture—you should know how life is in your home country. People talk about culture shock and adaptation issues when you move to a new country but nobody talks about the reverse culture shock.
“I started to wonder, ‘what is this? Why do you feel so weird when you come back home?’ I tried to find information about it but quickly realised there wasn't a lot of research out there. Of course, there were anecdotes and people sharing their own experiences, but not the scientific research.”
Adela wanted to add to the scholarly research on this topic, but also gather together some practical information about what specific factors make this cultural transition easier or harder for people. Her thesis, Reacculturation: Individual, Intergroup, and Sociocultural Determinants of Re-Entry Stress, focuses on the experiences of people returning home after long stints away, including international students, missionaries, or people working abroad.
A five-step plan for students moving home
Adela says people can experience heightened levels of stress due to the difficulties of readapting back to their home countries. This re-entry stress is well known to be a potential threat to health and well being.
That’s obviously something everyone wants to avoid, so what are some practical steps that international students can take before they head home to make the transition easier?
1. Keep up your social networks back home
While you’re abroad it’s important to make an effort to maintain strong connections with friends and family at home —that will make it easier to reconnect when you get there. So stick with those WhatsApp chats and regular FaceTime calls with your people back home!
2. Keep up with social changes
Before you head home, familiarise yourself with any big developments that took place while you were away—these might include major social, economic or political events. Follow local media from your home country so that you’re up to speed with the issues that are affecting people day to day.
3. Use your native language
Adela says people returning home sometimes struggle to adapt to their mother tongue again, so in the lead-up she recommends watching movies or reading books in your native language so that you get used to it again. “When you return it can get very frustrating when you don't know how to express yourself or you can't find the right words—it’s actually very similar to when you first move abroad and you have to learn the foreign language.”
4. Get some admin sorted ahead of time
Before you head home, Adela recommends getting as many administrative tasks done as possible. This might include applying for jobs, finding accommodation, or ensuring your shiny new qualification will be recognised back home. “These tasks can be very stressful to try and do all at once when you get home,” says Adela. “It’s always great to arrive back with some of the hard stuff already taken care of.” On the lighter side, she also recommends setting up some hang-outs with friends that you can look forward to before you get home.
5. Get into a good head space with some self-reflection
Consider what you liked about living in New Zealand, and what you didn’t like about it so much. “It’s a good idea to reflect on these differences so that you become aware of just how different cultural norms are between Aotearoa and your home,” says Adela. “It’s also a chance to think about the ways you have personally changed—maybe your habits or your attitudes towards certain things have shifted as you’ve grown up. Delve into some self-reflection before you go back home, so that you’re mentally prepared.”
Adela’s reflections on her experience
These days Adela is back in Slovenia working for a Socio-medical research institute, but while completing her research in Wellington she attended a reintegration workshop provided by the International Student Experience team at Te Herenga Waka for Manaaki scholars.
“This workshop was really good—even without the theoretical knowledge that I have, the practical advice and guidance they are giving is excellent.”
Adela hopes her research will find a wide audience. “Hopefully my findings will be a valuable practical resource for returnees and their support networks in helping ensure their readaptation is successful. It would be useful to institutions or employers for designing re-entry training programmes, and for those at a family or community level looking to provide the instrumental (practical) and psychosocial (empathetic) support that returnees need when they get home.”
Adela says that one of the crucial ways of coping with re-entry stress is for returnees to recognise the huge benefits of their time overseas. “They’ve gained experiences abroad such as personal growth, broadened perspectives, critical thinking skills, expanded social networks, and new knowledge,” she says. “If they’re well supported by the people around them to cope with re-rentry challenges then the transtion will go much more smoothly.”
If you are an International Student coming to the end of your study at Te Herenga Waka, the International Student Experience team can help support your transition home with one-to-one sessions and with reintegration and career workshops. For more information you can contact the team here.