The Thoughts of an Exchange Student in Her Last Week of Exchange

As I begin my last week here in Switzerland, I've began to think what my life is going to be like when I return home to California. I know there will some certain things in my life, like starting my senior year of high school in August and playing varsity volleyball. But there are so many uncertain things, and that scares me a bit. I like to think that I'm a pretty strong person and can handle what life throws at me, but right now life is about to throw reverse culture shock and I'm not sure I'll know how to deal with that. It differs for every person, just like a fingerprint; just like every exchange is different. One of my best friend's here has done an exchange before and I've asked her what it's like, and the best thing she told me is that you can't plan for it and that everyone has a different experience with it. I used to think that I wouldn't be that affected by it, but as I am nearing my return date, I've come to realize that there is no way I won't be. Even though I know that people back home have changed, that life went on while I wasn't there, there is still a small part of me that believes that everything will be the same when I go home. I know that it'll seem like everything has changed, and in some ways it has. My friends will be a year older, there'll be new people at school, and overall life will have gone on without me. I know that I've changed and with that change I've created a new life for myself here in Switzerland. The thing that I don't know is how my Swiss self will be in my Californian life. Everything will feel familiar, but at the same time foreign. Some people think that reverse culture shock is pretty similar to culture shock, because hey, they're both culture shock so they must be the same, right? But it is different from regular culture shock because you literally can not prepare for how it will affect you. I know I've already said that, but it's the main thing going through my mind right now. I like to know how things are going to work out, and how I will be affected by stuff that happens, which is why this is hard for me. I would like to have the best experience possible when I come home, but for all I know it could be the complete opposite. There is no way for me to know what will happen. My exchange year has been one of the best years of my life, if not the best. I know that the life I have here is completely different from the life I had/will have in California. Knowing this, hopefully I won't compare my exchange life to my post-exchange life.
Even with all these things running through my head, I am pretty excited to come back home. I'm excited to eat burritos, to see my family in person, to drive a car again, to fully understand everything that is being said. I'm ready to come home, I just don't know if I'm ready to deal with the reverse culture shock.