A lot of people have been asking about my study abroad in India; from the food to the people (a lot of you have been asking about dating, but that may come in a later article). But something that I don’t think I’ve had a lot of chances to talk about is my adjustment back to the States. And while I’m sure my study abroad adventure is different than a lot of people’s, I have a feeling the adjustment stages are about the same.
When I left my hostel for the last time, and hugged my friends goodbye, friends that I spent the last five months getting to know and traveling with, I burst into tears. While a big part of me was so excited to get home and see everyone, a big part of me wanted to stay and go on one last trip, or at least make sure everyone knew how much I care for them, and hope that this is the cheeky yet true “see you later.”
During my trip back, my feelings were on this rotated cycle of excitement, to disbelief, to sadness. I was excited to go home and see my cats, my family, and friends; excited to get back to my home school and get back into theatre. Disbelief because after five months I felt like India was “home” in the way that our colleges feel like home after a while; I kept saying to my friends that it felt like I was going home for summer break, not going home without a ticket back; and then I’d usually tear up again when I realized I wouldn’t be traveling with my friends every other weekend. I think that’s something I’ll definitely miss the most.
When I first got home, I kind of went bananas. My mom took me to the grocery store and I bought all the junk food I’d been dreaming of for 5 months (Reese’s, I missed you so much). I went to my home school two days after getting back, and while still readjusting to traffic being on the right side of the road. I tried answering the inevitable “So how was India?” question so many times I started laughing when someone new asked it. And honestly, one of my biggest adjustments was getting used to seeing so many white people—we're everywhere.
As the weeks passed, I began to feel more at home. I got used to seeing road signs with only one language on it, I was able to go out and not have one person ask for a “selfie” and it be normal, and I was able to think about the people I missed and not want to buy a plane ticket just to hang out with them.
In fact, India began to slip from my mind more and more as I readjusted. I was messaging one of the other internationals that I met, and she asked me “Doesn’t it feel like India never happened?”, and yeah, it really does. India began to feel more and more like a dream that part of me never wanted to wake up from. I’d gotten back into my routine, back into working, and the more I was home, the less people wanted to hear about India so I tried to talk about it less.
And you know what, that’s OK. There’s a reason we come home, and even if India starts to feel like a dream, it’s still the best dream I’ve ever had.
