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Going back home, so-called 'reentry' should be easy, but it is often more difficult than we anticipate. We have changed and time has moved on at home too. People have come and gone, made new friends. The supermarket down the road has made way for an amusement center. Friends and family try to be interested in all our experiences but after 10 minutes the conversation returns to local issues which we may find trivial -- and say so, alienating others even when we didn't mean to. The clash between our old picture of home and the new lead to feelings of dislocation, feeling misunderstood and out of place, making mistakes. And how can the skills learned abroad be used at home? Graceful returns require preparation and forethought. A child's world changes even faster. And what of the older children preparing to go 'home' alone to college or university? They may be able to fly across the world alone but may not have a driver's license or know how to go about getting a job like their peers at home.
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Information: The emotional challenges of leaving and re-entry. Practical information on packing up and leaving Vienna. Self-Assessment: Challenges to be faced. Analysis of needs and resources. Aims: Development of timetable for packing up. Steps for settling down at home.
Children often have unrealistic expectations about going 'home'. Some are delighted to be going home to friends, but things are not the same any more. For other children 'home' is Vienna. They cannot see anything good about going back to their home country. In each case going home is challenging but there are many ways to make the transition more successful. Information: The emotional challenges of leaving and re-entry. Practical information on packing up and leaving Vienna. Self-Assessment: Challenges to be faced. Analysis of needs and resources. Aims: Development of timetable for packing up. Steps for settling down at home.
Going Home Alone workshop Many teenagers go back to their home countries alone. Some go back to boarding school and many go off to college or university. It may be a long time since they lived at 'home'. For some home is a foreign country. All children coming from Vienna are used to different circumstances. Most do not yet have a driving license but their peers in the US, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand usually do. Most are used to being able to drink legally. Many have no idea how to go about getting a job and may not know some of the simplest things about home that others take for granted. Information: The emotional challenges of leaving and re-entry. Self-Assessment: Analysis of skills to be acquired and tasks to be accomplished. Available support. Aims: Development of plan for accomplishing tasks (for parents and children).
Expatriate life is full comings and goings, of hellos and good-byes. Every expatriate is faced with regular good-byes to friends and loss and grief are an unavoidable part of the expatriate package deal. How can we say meaningful good-byes, deal with grief and loss, find perspectives for the future? Information: The meaning and importance of good-byes. Self-Assessment: Present mode of leave taking. Aims: Development of personal leave-taking options and ideas.
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