Cultural Adjustment, Part 3: There’s No Place Like Home

welcome-matIn the previous article in this Cultural Adjustment Series, we covered some of the most popular theories of cultural adjustment — the U-Curve and W-Curve models.

As I mentioned at the end of that article, one aspect of the expat or international student experience that is often left out of these models is the experience of moving back home after having lived abroad for a period of time.

We generally assume that moving back home should go smoothly — after all, it’s home! But this isn’t always the case.

Let’s take a closer look at the process of what is sometimes called repatriation or reintegration — a.k.a. going home.  Read More