The W Curve
November 12, 2011
When I applied to come on an international exchange at my home university, it made sense to me to also participate in the uni’s Advantage Award. Two birds with one stone I figured. Part of this then is my taking ab additional module in cultural awareness.
In our first meeting back home in Nottingham, everyone going abroad was told that they would go through certain stages of cultural change, this is called the U or W curve, and it has matched my experience in Australia fairly well.
I go up and down a lot, and right now Im in an odd sort of pre-emptive down. The kind of flat mood I get when I know I’m going to have to do something that I dont like, which is unavoidable. Right now that thing is leave Australia.
I didn’t have this feeling of loss when I left the UK, I was more scared and nervous that the risk I was taking wouldn’t pay off. Well it has paid off. But now I have the troubles associated with leaving the warm sunny home with friends and a job that I have established over the last 5 months.
I do really miss England, and my family and friends there. But I just dont think I am ready to go back. I think it is harder this way round than leaving England.
When I left home I knew I would be returning, and that even if I had a hellish time out here I could come back and still have the life I had before with all my family and friends still being there for me. But leaving Australia, I dont have that kind of security. I dont know when or even if I will ever see the friends I have made here again, and knowing that makes me very reluctant to leave. I dont want the connections I’ve made here to be transient, but when we all live so physically far appart it is realistic to think I will be lucky to see more than 1 of them again.
I know I will see Tarq, which does go some way to make me feel better about leaving everyone else: at least I will have someone at home who has gone through a similar experience to me and can relate, and who knows the people out here I will inevitabley still want to talk about.
I really didn’t like him leaving yesturday. I am going to be a bit of a mess when I have to leave.
