Some Thoughts on Re-Entry: People
The next ‘p’ in my reflections on re-entry is people. This is firmly at the ‘subjective’ end of the spectrum, so what follows are just a few of my own experiences and resolutions about interacting with other people around your re-entry…
End Well
The best advice I got about three weeks before I left Vanuatu was to make sure I finish my time there well. While my natural approach would have been to keep working as normal until the very last second, I tried to take the advice to heart and found it was really helpful to have a lead up where I made sure I saw (almost) all my local friends and thanked those I worked closely with for specific things they had done that year that had encouraged/helped/saved me and my work there. On the other hand, I did get tired of half-a-dozen drawn-out farewells (not including the one I dogged to catch a plane…oops…).
Have People At The Airport
This does depend a bit on how intro/extroverted you are, but whether you get your extended family, entire church, and your godparents or just your parents and girlfriend (in my friend Jimi’s case) – it is really good to have people meet you as your touch down. Not only does it give you an emotional reason not to freak out and get on the next plane back, it also greatly increases your chances of making it to your house in one piece (first few hours back are like a trippy dream).
Keep In Touch
Give yourself a break of a week or two, then if possible get in touch with your friends from overseas (or ex-missios, anyone who can relate to your experiences). Don’t get too worked up over it, but use it as a good bridging time to speak other languages, reminisce a little, and generally have a foot in both camps. I was lucky to have brought a bunch of Ni-Vanuatu over to Australia with me on my return, so I had a pretty ideal opportunity to integrate my cultural experiences.
Take The Initiative
Some people won’t know you’re back. People are out of the habit of inviting you to stuff… it can feel like nobody really cares. While you definitely need time to yourself to reflect, I really recommend pushing yourself and taking the initiative to organise times to meet up with people.
Learn Your Stories
You’ll be asked the same five or so questions by everyone and if you’ve been involved in ministry, be asked to be interviewed publicly on a moment’s notice, so I’ve found it helpful to have some rote answers ready. Think about how to concisely answer where you’ve been (esp. if obscure like Vanuatu!), what you were doing, who you were doing it with, what’s the weirdest thing about coming back…
Aside from the pat answers, write down or practice how to tell a few of your best stories – no real reason for this other than not forgetting your good experiences, though I suppose it allows you to teach people bits about the culture and crossing cultures.
Posted: Jan 19, 01:44 AM Category: Re-entry
Tags for this article: cross-culture, mission, re-entry, vanuatu