How Reverse Culture Shock Hit Me

As the end of my fifth week as an American college student draws to a close, I've begun to realized I've developed a pattern.

Monday: "That was a interesting class! I love this country!"

Tuesday Evening: "I hate this country! Everyone is so opinionated and I can't relate!"

Wednesday: sigh..."I should do homework...nah...I need coffee first."

Thursday: "Who am I kidding?! What the heck am I doing in Virginia?!"

Friday: "The weekend! I'm going to get so much done!"

Saturday morning: "I love sleeping in...maybe I should walk to Food Lion."

Saturday evening: "Weekends suck! Everyone goes home! I can't go home! I hate my life!"

Sunday: "I love church. I love my church friends. America is a decent place."

And it repeats, going into week six.

As a TCK, life in a small American college is a series of ups and downs; the desire to be American combined with the desperate attempts to find something familiar. Life here has only made me more aware of my multiculturalism. While EMU celebrates diversity, it doesn't exactly know how to encourage the manifestation of it...unless you plan on marching in a peace rally or play bluegrass on the guitar. EMU is a small school. If you're not related to someone, you must have attended high school with them or at least been best friends with someone they dated.

I'm still discovering how my unique TCK inspired identity fits in here. This is only fitting because as classes increase in intensity, I realize the social is reserved for the freshmen and sophies. This is where I want to be, I remind myself several times a day. If I drink enough coffee, maybe my life will make more sense.

Today is Thursday...typically a rather low day but today is actually pretty good! So while I continuing my attempts to understand all I encounter, I can attest to the fact the reverse culture shock isn't a myth...