Coming back home after a language and cultural exchange
Back to reality
How can you deal with your return home after a cultural and language exchange? Time, thought and innumerable to-do lists are invested in the preparation of a french or spanish exchange. However, we never prepare for coming back home!
For some reason, the end of an adventure never seems easy. Not that you don’t expect it, but you never expect it to be so hard. On one hand, you’re happy to see your friends and family again, but on the other hand all the time you spent preparing your journey is over! How could time fly so quickly? Did it really happen, or was it all a dream?
The Kinder Exchange team is acquainted with this dreaded feeling of going back to your normal life. We gathered up our ideas and wrote a list to make your next return home much easier…
Keeping in touch
By keeping in touch with your family and friends in France, Spain, Germany or elsewhere, you will maintain long-lasting links and friendships, keep up your language skills, and make plans to visit your family again! Modern technology allows you to keep in touch easily, with tools such as WatsApp, WeChat, Face Time or Skype. That being said, who doesn’t like to receive a postcard now and again?
Bring a few traditions home
Language and cultural immersion in a family is very culturally enriching. Of course, you will discover the most important traditions of a country, but you will also discover and adopt more subtle customs. Why not bring a few customs home? Some aspects of your hosts’ culture will help you feel connected to the country and the people you met, as well as making you recall your stay in your second family.
Bring home a few recipes
We can’t deny it; one of the favourite things during our travels is the incredible cooking we get the chance to taste… Food doesn’t always travel well in a suitcase, so why not ask your host family to give you the recipes of the food you liked? That could also be a good way to impress your family back home!
Carry on speaking the language
During your exchange, you will get the chance to speak another language, and maybe even learn to speak like a local! There’s nothing more inspiring than to put your linguistic prowess to practical use. Try to use this inspiration when you come home, and carry on using the language by reading magazines, comics, books, listening to podcasts or talking to your host family on Skype. The more you carry on using the language, the more you will benefit from your exchange, even after you went home!
Plan your next adventure
Nothing better to keep the ‘blues’ away before your next cultural and language exchange! Where would you like to go next? Would you want to go back to the same country to know it better? Or are you dreaming of virgin territories? Whatever your plans are, we’d like to hear about it!
Why not tell us about your next destination by pre-registering on our website, kinder exchange?
Article d’Hati Whiteley