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Going Home  and 

Going Home  and . John Weting YEC Rotary Club of Marquette, Michigan, U.S.A., D-6220 johnweting@charter.net Central States Summer Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan , U.S.A. July 2007. A Tale of Two Lives!. Who is nervous about returning home?

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Going Home  and 

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  1. Going Home and  John Weting YEC Rotary Club of Marquette, Michigan, U.S.A., D-6220 johnweting@charter.net Central States Summer Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan , U.S.A. July 2007

  2. A Tale of Two Lives! • Who is nervous about returning home? • Who wants to go home for a month and return to their exchange life? • Vertical relationships vs. horizontal relationships • Has home changed or has your perception of the home and the world changed? • Look around you are not in this journey alone!

  3. The Good & Bad of Going Home The Good • Seeing family & friends • Renewing relationships • Eating Favorite foods • Back to education • Speaking native language • Being “special” • Freedom/Protection The Bad • Missing family & friends • Losing relationships • Missing favorite foods • No more easy school! • Speaking native language • Being “ordinary” • Freedom/Protection

  4. Peaks & Valleys – The Emotional Roller Coaster Ride • Seeing family and friends at home • Discovering things about your own culture • Missing exchange family and friends • Homesick for your adopted culture • When peaks and valleys are opposing

  5. Good Day / Bad Day Borrowed from Coming Home- Relatio9nships, Roots and Unpacking By Jim Citron and Vija Mendelson, http://www.transitionsabroad.com • I have the flexibility to fit in anywhere. I adapt easily. I feel horizontally rooted. • I am bilingual/multilingual. • I can empathize with multiple view points. • I respect cultural differences. • I have tolerance for ambiguity. • I feel challenged/empowered by new experiences. • I am aware of global issues (news, politics, media, resource distribution, etc.) • I accept challenges to my lifelong beliefs and values. • I have a more complex/defined sense of self. • I act more socially responsible. • I enjoy a personal connection to the larger world; I feel like a “global citizen”. • I take risks and embrace the unknown. • I am curious and eager to learn. • I don’t seem to fit in anywhere. I resist change. I feel rootless. • I am semi-lingual in two or more languages. • I am frustrated by my narrow-mindedness of people at home. • I become impatient with monoculturalism. • I am frequently indecisive. • I feel bored my the mundane. • I am uninformed about local issues and unable to apply what I’ve learned about the larger world to my life at home. • I am becoming resocialized into U.S. patterns of thought. • I have a more fragmented sense of conflicting identities. • I act judgmental and self-righteous in the face of others’ social choices. • I feel disconnected/alienated from my home environment. • I feel overwhelmed by the known and unknown. • I feel depressed and reluctant to engage.

  6. Skills you Gained This Past Year The following are skills that most of you have likely gained during your year of exchange: • Patience • Broader appreciation of others views • Expressing your appreciation for others efforts • Helping others • Pack these skills when you leave and remember to unpack them when you get home!

  7. Sharing Your Exchange Experience • The novel vs. the short story • “What happened here while I was gone?” • Be careful of comparing cultures • Seeing your country and the world through different filters • Others will not likely understand your passion • Jealousy and/or lack of understanding

  8. Coping With Re-Entry • Share, share, share • Communicate- E-mail, IM, Skype, MySpace, Post cards, Letters… • Seek out other returned exchangees • High school, university… getting on with life • Presentations to Rotary, civic groups, churches… • Help your Rotary Club find new exchange students • Get involved with your Sponsor District • Get involved in ROTEX

  9. Resources Links available at http://www.csrye.org • “Going Home”, by Dennis White, Ph.D. (A good read for the plane ride home!) and “How I have changed. Available at- http://yeoresources.org/4DACTION/RYD_Find_1?wvTable0=24&wvSearch_Field0=3&wvSort_Field0=3&wvSearch_Value0=Rebounds_-_Rotex • http://www.pacific.edu/sis/culture/ (excellent worksheets) • http://www.transitionsabroad.com • The Art of Coming Home, STORTI, Craig 2001 • Google “Cultural re-entry” 0r “Reverse culture shock”

  10. Thank You The world is a great book; he who never stirs from home reads only a page. Saint Augustine-Carthaginian author, saint, & church father (354 AD - 430 AD) As an exchange student, you have read but one chapter, the book and the world lie before you. Happy discovering!

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