South African Woman Abroad for 5 Years Shares Culture Shocks After Return to Mzansi
- A South African woman who was an immigrant for several years recently came back, and she opened up about her experiences
- The woman was in the Middle East and Asia, and she feels a bit out of place after coming back to her home country
- Online users were interested in the woman who shared her candid feelings about being in South Africa
Don't miss out! Join Briefly News Sports channel on WhatsApp now!
A woman posted a TikTok video about moving back to South Africa. The lady opened up about readjusting to being at home after years away.
Source: TikTok
The TikTok post amassed thousands of likes as people were interested in how the woman felt after coming back to South Africa. Hundreds of people commented on the video, reacting to the things she started noticing in South Africa.
A woman @justkholz shared a TikTok video explaining that she came back to South Africa after living in Dubai and Thailand for five years. She went on to list the cultural shocks she's had since coming back. First, the lady said she was used to being the only black person or being in the minority in most spaces. She said walking into restaurants and seeing mostly black people has been "weird" for her, but it feels nice.
Source: Getty Images
Another big difference the woman noticed was the food in South Africa. She said returning to her home country made her realise how accessible good-quality food is. She raved that meat is very affordable as she can get steak at good prices in South Africa, compared to the foreign countries she's lived in. The lady said she was also surprised to see that there were cows everywhere, and she lives in Johannesburg.
South Africa debates culture shock in home country
Many people commented on the video, and some thought it was interesting that she felt culture shock in her home country. Peeps came to her defence, pointing out she was experiencing reverse culture shock, feeling out of sync after a prolonged absence from one's home country, according to Marquette University. Watch the video of the woman explaining how she feels after returning to South Africa:
EvaTumza 🇿🇦 commented:
"True🙌🏼🙌🏼South African meat is the best."
piyo shared:
"SA also has beautiful grocery stores 😂 I miss it so much."
hlakunaiza doubted the lady's culture shock:
"Culture shock is an interesting way to describe home."
Lilz_Mazi added:
"In just five years, you got a culture shock,wuuuu hle wena🙌 usuyenza kakhulu."
Siko🇿🇦🇵🇸🇮🇷 remarked:
"I can't imagine seeing an abundance of people who look, sound and speak the same language as me, being a culture shock, surely that's not ok, right?"
Many responded to peeps who denied that the South African was experiencing culture shock in Mzansi:
Salma_ms2u
The people saying it’s weird she’s calling it a “culture shock” have clearly not lived in another country, the term is actually “reverse culture shock”. Also, she didn’t say a single bad thing about SA. She just spoke about how different it is. “Just five years”, when in five years a child can be born, learn to walk, talk, and start crèche, and you say it’s “just five years? Bathong guys."
Mazi Tom said:
"It’s called reverse culture shock. Don’t worry, girl, it’s very real, just not well recognised."
YolandaM🌸🇿🇦🇰🇷 added:
"Living in homogeneous countries does that 😅. You really get used to “standing out” more, especially if you have a dark/darker skin tone. Being home definitely feels strange because you blend in effortlessly and no weird stares, but it feels good to be around your people."
Other Briefly News stories about South Africans abroad
- A Zulu man in the USA shared the difficulties he faced adjusting to the new country.
- People were fascinated by China's food delivery system after a South African woman showed how it worked.
- A South African man vlogged his landing in the USA and went viral for his reaction to their supermarkets.
Source: Briefly News
