Reverse culture shock can be a common reaction to arriving back home for students on extended study away experiences. Sometimes it is mild a feeling that on one understands the experience you had, other times you may be overwhelmed by feelings that letting your study away experience fade to the past will also cause you to lose a part of who you now are.  It can be a very real factor in how you return to "normal" back home.  Possible symptoms of RCS include:

• Feelings of restlessness, boredom, depression, or confusion
• A tendence to isolate yourself from the friends or family you have returned to, wanting to be alone
• An overwhelming "reverse homesickness", missing the people, places, or lifestyle from your study away experience.
• Trouble aligning your post-experience goals and values with the plans you had made for your future before going abroad
• Feelings of negativity or intolerance towards your home culture

These helpful links can help you understand and deal with the very real impact of reverse culture shock, a feeling of unease about returning home which often awaits students on semester or longer study away programming.

• The U.S. Department of State Reverse Culture Shock Overview
• ISEP Study Abroad's Guide to Dealing with Reverse Culture Shock
• A Great Breakdown of RCS and How to Cope from Marquette University
• GoAbroad.com's Outline of RCS 
• Five Ways to Ease RCS from Global Vision International