|
The Top Ten Immediate Reentry Challenges
There are lots of reasons to look forward
to going home, but there are also a number of psychological,
social and cultural aspects which can prove difficult—often
because they are unanticipated. The following list was
generated by interviewing students like you who have
been through the experience and survived nicely. However,
they say you should take the process seriously by being
realistic and thinking about it and your possible reactions.
They offer the following thoughts on reentry for your
consideration…
1. BOREDOM
After all the newness and stimulation
of your time abroad, a return to family, friends, and
old routines can seem very dull.
2. “NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR”
One thing you can count on upon your
return: no one will be as interested in hearing about
your adventures and triumphs as you will be in sharing
those experiences.
3. YOU CAN’T EXPLAIN
Even when given a chance to explain
all the sights you saw and feelings you had while studying
abroad, it is likely to be at least a bit frustrating
to relay them coherently. It is very difficult to convey
this kind of experience to people who do not have similar
frames of reference or travel backgrounds, no matter
how sympathetic they are as listeners.
4. REVERSE “HOMESICKNESS”
Just as you probably missed home for
a time at the beginning of your stay overseas, it is
natural to experience some “reverse” homesickness
for the people, places, and things that you grew accustomed
to while abroad. To an extent it can be reduced by writing
letters, telephoning, and generally keeping in contact,
but feelings of loss are an integral pat of international
sojourns and must be anticipated and accepted as a natural
part of study abroad.
5. RELATIONSHIPS HAVE CHANGED
It is inevitable that when you return
you will notice that some relationships with friends
and family will have changed. Just as you have altered
some of your ideas and attitudes while you were abroad,
the people at home are likely to have experienced some
changes. Alternatively, you may feel that you have changed
a lot and “everything/everyone is the same”
at home. That can be disconcerting.
6. PEOPLE SEE THE “WRONG”
CHANGES
Sometimes people may concentrate on
small alterations in your behavior or ideas and seem
threatened or upset by them. Others may ascribe any
“bad” traits to the influence of your time
abroad. These incidents may be motivated by jealousy,
fear, or feelings of superiority or inferiority.
7. PEOPLE MISUNDERSTAND
A few people will misinterpret your
words and actions in such a way that communication is
difficult. For example, what you may have come to think
of as humor and ways to show affection or establish
conversation may not be seen as wit, but aggression
or “showing off”.
8. FEELINGS OF ALIENATION/CRITICAL
EYES
Sometimes the reality of being back
“home” is not as natural or enjoyable as
the place you had constructed as your mental image of
“home” while you were overseas. When real
daily life is less enjoyable or more demanding than
you remembered, it is natural to feel some alienation,
see faults in the society you never noticed before or
even become quite critical of everyone and everything
for a time.
9. INABILITY TO APPLY NEW KNOWLEDGE
AND SKILLS
Many returnees are frustrated by the
lack of social opportunity to apply newly gained social,
linguistic, and practical coping skills that appear
to be unnecessary or irrelevant. To avoid ongoing annoyance:
adjust to reality as necessary, change what is possible,
be creative, be patient, and above all use all of the
cross-cultural adjustment skills you acquired abroad
to assist your own reentry.
10. LOSS/COMPARTMENTALIZATION OF EXPERIENCE
Being home, coupled with the pressures
of job, family, and friends, often combine to make returnees
worried that somehow they will “lose” the
experience; somehow becoming compartmentalized like
souvenirs or photo albums kept in a box and only occasionally
taken out and looked at. You do not have to let that
happen. Maintain your contacts. Talk to people who have
experience similar to yours. Practice your skills. Remember
and honor the hard work and all of the fun that you
had while you were overseas.
Adapted from Dr. Bruce LaBrack,
School of International Studies, University of the Pacific.
|
