There is nothing like walking through your front door after being abroad for a period of time. You're finally able to relax and rejuvinate after all your adventures and catch up with old friends. What you're probably not expecting though is that you'll experience culture shock once again while trying to assimilate into your old lifestyle. There will be plenty of awkward moments and miscommunications to look forward to upon arriving home. Here are 10 things that are almost always guarenteed to happen when coming home after being abroad.
1. You Greet People in a Foreign Language
Whether you're fluent in the foreign language or not, you've just spent an extended period of time listening and trying to converse in a language other than your own. Chances are you've accidentally greeted friends or a store employee with a "bonjour" or "hola" once you've gotten home, which was followed by a silent argument in your head about whether you should explain the slip up or just continue the conversation.
2. Recent Pop Culture is Lost on You
Everyone is talking about what Kim K just snapchatted and how good their dabbing skills are, which makes absolutely no sense to you. Your evenings are now dedicated to looking up words on urban dictionary like "slay" and "snatched", because you'd like to be able to communicate with your friends again.
3. You Can't Remember How to Get Anywhere in Town
Public transportation in Paris is a piece of cake, but how to get to your local Walmart has become a job for Google maps. Do you turn right at the third stop light or the second? Everything seems oddly familiar, which is even more confusing.
4. Your Closet is a Bittersweet Reunion
Living out of a suitcase with only a few outfits choices can become your worst nightmare, so walking back into your closet is cause for celebration. That is, until you realize that your taste in clothing has completely changed and you wouldn't wear half of what you own now. The first week home usually consists of rifling through all your dresser drawers, until you finally decide to unzip your suitcase and wear the last thing you bought at the Zara airport store.
5. You Have Currency You Can't Use
Even if you purposely try to spend all your foreign currency you'll still come across some coins in forgotten pockets. This is a dilemma because the cash is useless, but you still don't have the heart to throw out money. Pretty much you'll be saying hello to your new foreign coin collection.
6. You Crave Food the Grocery Store Doesn't Sell
It's inevitable that you'll become addicted to food that is specifically native to a country and impossible to obtain back home. You'll have to get creative with grocery store materials, drive to an international food market, or start planning your next trip abroad to curb the cravings.
7. People Have a 3 Minute Attention Span
Your friends and family have told you for weeks they can't wait for you to get home and tell them all about your trip, but that doesn't necessary hold true once you arrive. You'll get about half way through a travel story before the conversation switches to the latest hometown drama.
8. LTE is Always Available
This is like gold when you first arrive back home, but becomes a nusuance after no one at the dinner table has bothered to have a conversation due to twitter updates. You realize how much technology distracts from real connection after not having immediate wifi access when abraod.
9. You Don't Know What to Do With Yourself
The last couple weeks or even months of your life have been non stop movement and new discoveries. You know home like the back of your hand and nothing seems to be able to stimulate you. Boredom sets in fast and you'll find yourself thinking "okay what should I do now" almost 24/7.
10. Old Habits Die Hard
You've seen a new part of the world and the experience has changed you. You've probably told yourself that you'll no longer sleep until noon at home or forget to make your bed, but after a few days in a familiar place you tend to settle back in and forget the promises you made to yourself, which if we're honest isn't the end of the world.
