Hard study, lots of reading, lots of sleep and an outpouring of letters are signs of this reaction. Blame falls on the foreign culture, but even more on oneself. One feels ashamed to feel homesick and miserable after having dreamt of a great experience abroad. The weather is intolerable, the prices exorbitant, the people weird. The academic program is trivial, the teachers are dull, and the students are infantile.
Nothing is right.
The timing of the cultural adjustment cycle varies considerably by person, by the length of time you will be abroad, and by the depth of your adjustment. Some students never go through the cycle because they don't fully engage in the host culture. Those staying abroad for a year may find that it takes months to adjust. Summer or semester students may well go through the complete cycle in just a few months or not at all. It happens because it is never easy to live in a new environment and it's twice as hard in another culture.