It was the moment I had been dreaming of for six months of studying abroad. Whenever I felt lonely, whenever I missed my family, whenever I got lost in unfamiliar streets or got stranded in a strange city, the one thing I missed above all aspects of American culture was a burrito. Four dollars of beans and rice and guacamole heaven wrapped up in a tortilla almost brought tears to my eyes as I realized I was finally home.
Coming back to College Park after a summer and a fall away has been a strange and insightful experience. Everything looks just the way I remembered it – the brick buildings still stand tall against the blue Maryland sky as students clad in the typical baggy sweatpants and hoodies bob their heads to music as they walk to class. It’s calming to come back to a place that hasn’t changed from the way I remembered it. But things are strange, too, as I try to readjust to living the college life after having been away for so long.
Re-entry shock is an often-overlooked side effect of living abroad that can overwhelm students because it is so unexpected. According to the “Study Abroad Handbook,” reverse culture shock is a “period of disorientation” that students go through as they try to readjust to being at home again. “Things felt weird in the specific way they do when you once were used to something but have now forgotten what it’s like,” said senior psychology major Rebecca Meyers after spending a year in Israel.
There are resources for students at the Study Abroad Office after they come home from their time away and ways to bring their experiences back to campus. “The hardest thing for me being back from abroad was wanting to talk about my experience and not having [an] outlet or resource to do that,” said Lauren Ruszczyk, an advisor in the Study Abroad Office.
People complain about the university and the city of College Park every day. Too many sandwich shops, not enough parking, terrible traffic, unsympathetic administrators/state government/dining hall workers – immeasurable Diamondback ink has been dedicated to the negatives of College Park.
But being away for nine months has made me realize there are a lot of great things about this place that I missed while I was gone: free transportation all around the neighboring areas and the Metro station, a 24-hour library (not that I’ll ever use it, but at least it’s there), WiFi all over the campus, late night at the dining halls (and freshmen you can coerce into buying you food). Other positives to College Park: the oldest continuously running airport in the U.S., buffalo chicken sandwich day, the old, majestic trees on either side of the mall, the way Fraternity Row looks all lit up in December.
But far and away, the most incredible thing available on the campus is the American marvel, www.campusfood.com. Where else in the world can you receive food without even communicating with another human being until 20 minutes later when someone knocks on your door bearing a paper bag dripping with grease? And if you pay for it online, according to some members of my house, it’s almost like you get the food for free.
Coming home has been a whirlwind of feelings and emotions, and I’m still trying to catch my breath. Despite the large amount of this column dedicated to food, there is one thing above my beloved burrito that all study abroad participants to whom I’ve talked have missed more than anything else: friends. There is no better feeling in the world than seeing someone you haven’t seen in nine months, yelling their name and then careening across the mall at full speed to give them a hug.
I felt my reentry into American culture come full circle as I tried to explain what it’s like to be back at college to my Spanish friends. I was trying to explain the sports culture at the university and the slogan “Fear the Turtle!” in an e-mail. “OK,” one of my Spanish friends wrote back. “Good luck at the game tomorrow, and I’ll try not to be anxious around the tortoises.”
Melanie Lidman is a junior journalism and Spanish double major. She can be reached at mlidman@umd.edu.
