Returning Home

Blog Summary:

• If you study abroad during the fall semester then you can wrap up the souvenirs for your family and friends and treat them as holiday gifts
• Some examples of reverse culture shock I have felt since returning to the U.S. include the amount of holiday decorations, autumn tree color-changing, and the type of cold here in my region.
• You should not feel guilty about being thankful to be at home. You can be thankful for your study abroad experience and thankful to be home at the same time.
• Thank you for reading this final installment of my blog and good luck with whatever adventures lie ahead of you!

Since returning to the U.S., I have felt a wide variety of emotions. Of course as I mentioned in my previous installment of this blog I have been feeling sad about leaving my host family but also happy and excited to see my American family and spend the holidays at home. During my last few days in Rabat I was able to spend some time buying souvenirs for my family that I could wrap up as Christmas presents which was fun. 

Seeing Christmas decorations up was some crazy culture shock though because in Rabat there was one, singular winter decoration that I saw and the U.S. looks like Christmas threw up all over it. I also forgot that the trees would have started changing colors due to the season. The cold here is also sharp and quick compared to the Moroccan cold since in my American home we have central heating.

Personally though, my biggest culture shock (and the change that I am most open to returning to) is leaving the city and getting back to my country lifestyle. Living in the city of Rabat was a wonderful experience and one that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, however, I must say that I have dearly missed the forest. Rabat is not a loud city by any means but the opportunity to listen to the birds and see all of the stars again has restored a little piece of me that I didn't know was missing.

I think this phenomenon of returning home and being thankful for the things you’ve been missing for a semester is common among students who return from study abroad. Though I must admit that I feel guilty for feeling so thankful to be home because Rabat was such a wonderful experience, I believe it is possible to be grateful for both experiences without a zero-sum attitude.

Thank you for reading this final installment of my study abroad blog. For those of you that have read multiple of these articles I especially thank you for your commitment. I hope my writing has been helpful to someone and perhaps more than just one person. If nothing else I hope that this blog has at least been entertaining. Whether you are looking for information to help you decide on a study abroad program or just entertaining yourself I thank you for your attention and hope you have a wonderful day!