Home Sweet Home - How I Am Bracing For Reverse Culture Shock

Many people might write off the option of moving overseas to teach in their late 40s for reasons mostly related to bringing up a family or paying off the mortgage.

Working overseas had always been an attraction that eluded me, until several years ago, an unmissable opportunity presented itself and I found myself packing my life into a few boxes to move overseas for the first time in what was already quite a lengthy teaching career.

Moving my entire life to Thailand was a formidable challenge made more difficult by making the move alone and spending at least the first year in a new country, job and home without my wife, who had work commitments in the UK. It was a sacrifice, but one I had to make, and my family were very supportive of my decision.

If any readers are still contemplating their first move overseas, nothing can prepare you for the shock to the system that you face when moving to a new country, even if you are well travelled in the holiday sense.

You will feel like a stranger, even an imposter, and you will have the challenges of negotiating the geography, language, customs, traditions, administrative processes and much more. It is as scary as it is exhilarating, but that is perhaps a story for another time. This article is not about moving to a new country to live and work, it’s about going back!

Integration is an important part of moving to teach overseas. You will be in a working environment with fresh staff, many of whom will become friends, but there is also the community you live in, which will include families, children (and pets), both teaching and non-teaching colleagues, ex-pats, and locals.

When I arrived, I joined a small but established community who welcomed me like an old friend, and for that I am eternally grateful. I have since watched many staff come and go, but they were all made to feel equally welcome within the community, and they have all left an indelible mark on my memories.

For some it simply does not work, but I immediately felt like this was a place I could spend many years.

It took just a few months living here before it started to feel like home, and after some time you settle in, begin to explore further afield, and become more familiar with your new surroundings.

The quality of life here has been incredible, and in the time I have been here, I have travelled the length and width of the country to explore what it has to offer. If nothing else, Covid left a country to explore and to appreciate without hordes of tourists. In doing so, I experienced so much of what the country has to offer, yet I feel that I have still hardly scratched the surface.

Moving overseas is not for everyone, and there will be some experiences that you may be glad to leave, but there is an awareness that is awakened when you can really immerse yourself in new cultures and experiences – an epiphany, if you like. This, for me, is irreversible; and once you have experienced a new life, it’s difficult to go back to the old one.

This is not just a social adjustment either, the education system overseas can be very different to that of the UK, even if following a British curriculum. I will certainly miss polite, friendly students thanking me for lessons, apologising for absence and asking what work they need to do to catch up!

We now have just a few weeks remaining before we leave for the UK. The shipping has already gone, our TV, car and other possessions sold or passed on, and the apartment looks bare. Even now I do not quite feel ready to leave a place I have come to call home.

I have been fortunate enough to travel back to the UK a few times since Covid restrictions were eased, but each time it felt strange, like being on holiday in a new place. Like most of my summer holidays abroad, I am often ready to return home at the end. This was no different, and the thought of returning to a country where I spent almost 50 years of my life is making me feel as anxious as when I first moved overseas, perhaps more so.

For those who are just starting out on their adventures overseas, or those perfectly happy living and working where they are for the foreseeable future, returning to your previous life will be of no concern at the moment, but there will come a day where you may have to consider going back. Until recently, I hadn’t given it much thought, but reintegration into a society I grew up in feels like a challenge now, and I am not sure I am prepared for the reverse culture shock that awaits me.

The wanderlust has awakened and is unlikely to ever subside, so I may be going back to my old town, but certainly not my old life, and this experience has changed me for the better. My favourite thing is to go where I have never been, and to take the road less travelled. We have travelled more in Thailand in just a few years than I travelled in the UK in decades, so I intend to explore in and around my home country and to see what new adventures I can discover.

My adventures overseas may be ending, for now, but it has been the most incredible experience and one that I would recommend to anyone who dreams of travelling the world. Who knows, perhaps the lure of working overseas will be too much to resist and I will once again jump on a plane, with my life condensed to 30kg.

They say a man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. Time will tell if this is true.

 

** Would you like to share your ideas, insights or expertise with the ISN Community? Please email us at [email protected] to learn more about publishing with ISN, or send your draft article directly to our editorial team here! **