Back to Reality: Returning to Campus After a Year Abroad
After a year of blissful ignorance of real academic pressure, I’m back and experiencing what I can only describe as a reverse culture shock.
Clearly, not everything stayed the same in my absence. One moment, I was navigating the trams of Gothenburg, the next I was standing in the rain outside my campus accommodation, wearing slippers and explaining to the Residence Hub that I’d locked myself out of my room.
When I was a Fresher, doors never self-locked. Apparently, that’s no longer an acceptable excuse.
After spending almost a year in Sweden, returning to university accommodation felt familiar, but not quite the same. I’m surrounded by Freshers, whose late-night pres are a stark contrast to my quiet evenings spent watching Strictly Come Dancing or going to the student cinema.
The age gap isn’t dramatic, but it’s noticeable. A year abroad has aged me, in ways I hadn’t expected.
Author's summary: Returning to campus after a year abroad brings reverse culture shock.
More News
- Australia: Public meeting discusses how to fight Labor’s university restructuring
- Pacific Defence Ministers escalate militarisation across the region
- €377 billion for weapons–Germany’s most extensive rearmament programme since Hitler
- City of Nuremberg censors Mehring Verlag event on Gaza genocide at Left-wing Literature Fair
- Mega Millions jackpot reaches $800 million
- MLB World Series: LA Dodgers force Game 7 after chaotic clash with Toronto Blue Jays
- Educators and students speak out against pro-business, militarist assault on Australian university jobs
- Indonesian military massacres West Papuans, gov’t signs trade deal with EU