SDSU is one of the top schools in California for studying abroad, with more than 1,500 students participating every semester.
Students are taught to prepare for culture shock when going abroad. However, something that isn’t talked about nearly as much is the reverse culture shock of returning to the U.S.
Culture shock is defined as an experience in which people become aware of the differences between a foreign culture and their own, usually through immersion in said culture. Reverse culture shock, on the other hand, occurs when someone returns to their home country to find that they may no longer be used to things that they have known for their entire lives.
After studying abroad in Florence, Italy, last spring semester, the most immediate and surprising instance of reverse culture shock I experienced upon coming home was the lack of a language barrier between myself and the people around me. Over my three months in Europe, I got used to stumbling through interactions in broken Italian and with many, many hand gestures, along with pulling up Google Translate on my phone every time I needed to read a sign or menu.
Many Italians speak English as a second language, which made it easy enough for me to communicate, but it was still jarring when I returned to the States and could suddenly understand everything everyone was saying.
Another thing I was shocked to rediscover after coming home was the difference in the cost of living between Italy and the U.S. While a triple room in SDSU’s on-campus apartments costs upwards of $7,000 per semester, the same type of accommodation for a semester at my Italian host university costs only $1,000. Even off campus, the average apartment in San Diego costs almost $3,000 per month; meanwhile, apartments in Florence — an expensive city to live in by Italian standards — go for around €1,300 ($1,500) per month.
Food was also much cheaper in my host city. Every week, I spent €30 ($35) or less at the grocery store, buying enough food to supply me with three meals a day. I don’t need to explain to anyone living in San Diego how unrealistic that budget would be here, but it’s safe to say that I thought I might have a heart attack seeing the costs add up during my first grocery run after coming home.
The final aspect of American living I had to become reacquainted with after studying abroad was transportation and the lack of walkability in U.S. cities. During my months in Florence, I walked everywhere I needed to go in the city (even though it took almost an hour to get from my apartment to my friend’s). To travel to other parts of the country, I mastered the “Trenitalia” website to book my train trips.
Unlike the ancient cities of Europe, U.S. infrastructure was built for vehicles, not pedestrians. American cities are characterized by their wide 6-lane streets, abundant highways and spread-out development, making walking from place to place both difficult and incredibly time-consuming.
In other words, I never saw the inside of a car in Italy, but I use one every day in the U.S. Sitting in the back seat of the car on my way home from San Francisco International Airport at the end of the semester felt like reliving a far-off memory, despite the fact that only three months had passed.
Overall, returning home was a welcome return to my normal life, school and friends, but I didn’t realize when I left the country how strange some things would feel when I came back.
