Surreal does not cover how I felt on my return flight via Austin, Texas, with people talking about the London Olympics... with the queen jumping out of a helicopter with James Bond - weird.
I was welcomed by the open arms of my parents at London Heathrow. It felt very strange, not particularly with seeing them but to sit in our car with its comfy seats, air conditioning and the good old cheesy radio stations.
20 minutes later we arrived home where I was welcomed by a banner my mum had made.
I dumped my stuff in my peculiar-looking room and then sat downstairs not knowing what to do with myself now in this strange foreign place. Of course I spent time catching up with my family, and seeing my grandparents shortly afterwards, however I could not avoid feeling a heavy cloud was passing up over me - and this a cloud that I cannot imagine ever leaving me. Reverse culture shock, as it is so aptly termed is a bizarre feeling that comes with both positive and negative traits - one example of a positive take is that all these "first world problems" people express distress over do not exist to me any more. However it is hard to neglect the negative effects, such as the feeling that becomes evident when your mum asks you what you would like for dinner and you open a fridge full of plastic-encased, chemical-enrobed, food - Reverse culture shock is thus almost everlasting though I am left with a better impression of humanity and towards important causes.
I simply cannot summarise my thoughts about my experiences in any amount of space, my feelings are indescribable and conflicted but I know I will treasure these memories for life. However I have made some lifelong friends who are only a flight away, and I have many exciting opportunities to look forward to - namely a trip to Ireland in a couple of weeks followed by postgraduate education at Newcastle University on a course that was made for me, Tropical Coastal Management.
Thank you for taking some time to share my experiences, please feel free to check out the other sections of this site or contact me with any questions or any other information.