Some Rotary Youth Exchange students may experience a delayed homesickness a few months after arriving in their host country, a phenomenon known as the “middle wave” of culture shock. Psychologist Dennis White, a member of the District 6220 (parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, USA) Youth Exchange Committee and past RI Youth Exchange Committee chair, helps students, parents, host families, and Youth Exchange officers identify the symptoms and find ways to cope. Read his article below or view the full article on the North American Youth Exchange Network Website.

Rotary Youth Exchange students who departed for their host countries in late August are in the middle of their fourth month abroad around late December. Despite the fact that most of them are having a very positive experience, this is a time when it is fairly typical for many of them to be experiencing a second “wave” of culture shock, longer and more difficult than that which they experienced upon arrival in their host country.

There are usually at least four stages that exchange students experience:

1. Excitement and enthusiasm. This is the feeling that accompanies travel to a new place, seeing and doing so many new and different things, and meeting new people.
2. Irritability. No matter how understanding and accepting the student may try to be, there will be many times when they just don’t like or understand why their host culture is the way it is, and they can’t seem to make the feeling go away.
3. Adaptation. This is when students learn to accept that they will have to adapt if they are going to be successful in their host culture.
4. Biculturalism. This is when they realize that they have become competent in another culture and can see the world and function from another, very different point of view.

The lowest point comes at about four months, or near the middle of December. What exactly is the student experiencing at this point? Most tell us that this is where the feeling of irritability is at its greatest, because they do not see an easy way to feel better. They have not necessarily figured out how to get along better with a host family or to be included more in school activities.

Most probably, and certainly most important, they may have not yet learned enough [of the] language to really understand what is going on, or to communicate what they want to say to others. After a few months of this, it is very natural to get very frustrated and wish that everyone and everything just made more sense. They may just experience it as a global feeling of discomfort and dislike of the culture.

Following this period, they are entering the longest but most rewarding of the four stages of culture shock. This is where the students not only learn much more language and understand the culture much more, it is where they begin to learn much more about themselves. They get a better understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. They learn new coping skills or use existing ones that they may never have known they had. It can be helpful if Youth Exchange officers/counselors and parents understand that this is what many students are going through at this time. It can be extremely helpful to a student in this stage to just have someone with whom they can express their feelings without fear of getting in trouble or offending anyone. It can also be helpful to point out to students that this is probably the lowest point they will experience, and that things will begin to get better as they continue to work at adjusting.

To learn more about Rotary Youth Exchange, download this presentation.

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