As the vast majority of Whitties returned to campus after a four-week break, a fifth of the junior class returned to Whitman after four months spent in 43 countries and surrounded by unfamiliar faces, customs and languages.

While students go abroad expecting to encounter startling cultural differences, many are surprised to find that readjusting to an American and Whitman-specific lifestyle poses an even greater challenge. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as “reverse culture shock” and Whitties experience it to varying degrees.

“It’s really truly a range,” said Susan Holme Brick, director of Off-Campus Studies at Whitman College. “We have students who say, ‘Reverse culture shock? I heard about it but didn’t experience it at all.’ The more common reaction is, ‘Oh yeah, it was a little weird coming home, a little different.'”

Reverse culture shock isn’t triggered by one thing in particular. Sometimes it’s a matter of missing the host language or food, explained Whitman Counselor Sharon Kaufman-Osborn, M.S.W. via e-mail.

“They miss their new friends and lifestyle, speaking a different language, their favorite hangout; they long to live independently in a different environment, and yearn for life beyond Maxey, Olin, the science building, RCC, BFFC and Penrose,” she said.

Sometimes students struggle adjusting to the replacement of leisure time by the hurriedness characteristic of the infamous American work ethic.

“In many of other countries, there’s a different kind of balance between work and leisure, and not the same ‘to-do list’ lifestyle that we have in the United States,” said Brick.

Junior Hanna Daly, who spent the fall semester in Peru, notes that every day life there is more relaxed.

“The pace of life here is shocking to come back to. It is slower in Peru: they walk really slowly,” she said.

Most cases of reverse culture shock do share a common theme: the feeling of being misunderstood or unable to adequately communicate the experience.

“If you have a really significant life experience that’s really different from anything your friends and family have done, you may have grown in a way that’s difficult for them to relate to,” said Brick.

Jumping back into life on campus and keeping busy can help minimize reverse culture shock.

“Usually, this disruption subsides within the first few weeks, as students focus on their academic work, reconnect with old friends, establish new relationships and occasionally seek to practice what they have learned from their time abroad by extending themselves and exploring Walla Walla and Whitman in new ways,” said Kaufman-Osborn.

After a semester or year abroad, Whitties return to a community bursting with resources and people eager to help with any and all transitional issues, no matter how big or small.

Thursday, Jan. 20 the Off-Campus Studies office hosted a reception for recently returned students and announced its upcoming Baggage Claim series. The first of six sessions, entitled “Storytelling: Funny stories from around the world,” will take place this evening at 5 p.m. in the Glover Alston Center.

The series will continue through March and includes a session in conjunction with the Counseling Center, scheduled for Feb. 1.

In addition to Whitman-sponsored reintegration events and support systems, students often seek out their own ways of processing and incorporating their experiences. Brick encourages students to embrace reverse culture shock as a means of reaching out to a larger public.

“A returning study abroad student could visit a local third-grade class to talk to them about what life is like in India. Walla Walla is a community where there are some families and children that don’t have many travel opportunities at all. Some of those kids could really benefit from Whitman students sharing their international experiences,” she said.

Realizing that they really thrive in an environment overseas learning about a different culture and/or language or conducting fieldwork, a certain percentage of study abroad alumni seek out overseas jobs or become involved in post-graduate programs abroad such as Whitman in China.

In gaining new perspectives on the world as well as ourselves, and then evaluating and sharing our experiences, it’s clear that time abroad is really just the beginning of something much bigger.

“The experience doesn’t end with coming home,” said Brick.