Post-Fieldwork

Eighteen months of living in Latin America has come to a close for me. Coming back to the United States has not been easy. Reverse culture shock has certainly been a real phenomenon for me. It's hard to describe how something like that actually works since much of it is quite subtle.

When you have (reverse) culture shock, you feel slightly on edge and don't know why. Your interpersonal communication feels like a series of mismatching signals. You forget how to do simple things like ordering food, exchanging pleasantries, and simply being courteous. You realize you've forgotten internet passwords, ATM passwords, system.

I think now that one cost of adapting to a new culture is the residual effect of unlearning parts of your native culture. To embrace a new set of conventions when you live abroad, you have to open your mind by de-emphasizing your own cultural practices. But when you return, that means that you have a mix of material to work with, and this can be confusing.