It has been a little over two weeks since I have returned from Vietnam and have started to reintegrate back into my lifestyle in Canada. The first week upon returning home was more difficult than the second because reverse culture shock hit me like a big Hanoi city bus. However, as time progressed and my jetlag weakened, things more or less started to feel normal again; I don’t know how to feel about this. A part of me feels as if the last 8 months of my life were a dream. A blurred dream, because the memories have now meshed together and the details of my experience are starting to fade.
One of the requirements of my undergraduate program, along with the 8 month overseas internship, is to participate in a two week debriefing period upon our return as part of our reintegration process. I think participating in this debrief really helped me re-enter into the Canadian lifestyle without losing the identity the past eight months gave me.
My classmates and I joined in numerous sessions that required us to reflect on our international experience and connect this experience with our life in Canada. I never understood how important it would be to discuss what I had gone through immediately after returning home. One of our sessions focused on reconnecting with our overseas selves and merging that identity with the one we have in our home country. I like who I was in Vietnam, and I want that person to carry forward in Canada; despite what some people may think this is a difficult task.
I try to stay connected with the people I met by regularly emailing them and Skyping them. I have printed off some of my most reminiscent pictures, and I try to continue some of the habits that I picked up in Vietnam such as walking everywhere. Though my placement abroad is over, I don’t want it to stop being a part of me. This was one of the most influential experiences of my life and I plan on continuing to let it shape my character, today and in the future.
- Madiha
