Re-Entry Back Home
By Dr. Melvi Jouzy, Co-Moderator
This is a subject that before I went abroad for many years, it was one topic I used to lecture about to our overseas employees while coming back home. When I was in the Middle East after nearly 10 years of being away from Canada, I knew that I would need help but I was too excited about coming home and really wanting to experience Vancouver again that I came in not prepared to get hit with the shock of being back home.
Two years later now, I feel like this year I have grown back into life in Canada and although there are some grey areas in life but I feel business wise, socially and also emotionally that I am well aware of my surroundings and enjoying life's experiences once again.
When I was in the Middle East deciding to come home, I was so excited and thought I would blend back into the culture. But I knew that I needed someone professional to help me through it. I didn't get that support and then thought this subject is something I am familiar with so to my shock I couldn't help myself because I hardly had energy to process, get to know the country again and then deal with my emotions after the first few weeks out of the honeymoon phase.
Looking back I don't find too many people who come back home and everything that they once knew was all changed. My parents had sold our big house and put all my stuff into boxes when they moved which was placed in the basement of the new house. The location of the new house was one hour away from the old house and out of the big city. All of a sudden I was living in the country side and I am a city girl. The normal cars here are trucks or pick-up trucks, motor-bikes, rough looking people or just small families living in this community. All my friends had left, either travelled or re-located, married and in their own world somewhere. Even my family had changed, when I left my two brothers were unmarried and when I came back they were married and had small children which I felt like there was a lot of catching up to do.
Maybe because they are family, I wanted the catching up to be instant. Of course, they will love me because I am auntie Melvi but then I realized that relationships of any kind is a process and setting high expectations isn't realistic. Even the church that I used to go to and sing at for years, my favorite pastor left the church and started a new church that it took me one year after I came back to finally visit. I had to find new doctors, new dentist, new salon for my hair and there was nothing close to the standard that I was used to but the prices of everything that I touched was so high. Restaurants were so grouse and I didn't expect that restaurants in Kuwait were gourmet compared to restaurants in my area.
Finally what made everything shift is life. Life had to take place. I had to get to know the country again. I had to get to know new people and allow them to get to know me. Even in business I didn't break ties of my old clients overseas but needed to start from scratch and when you are going through all these changes, take a break from work and give yourself time to find out what you would like to do in your own home country in business. After a year of being home and feeling like there was nothing I can give in business I met a fantastic owner of a company in Calgary and we went into partnership opening the Vancouver branch for them.
It is normal for the culture shock and I didn't go into too much detail but if you are thinking of going back home and starting life again after many years working and living abroad. Talk to us, we can listen and understand. This isn't a challenge you need to deal with alone.
Together we can help you re-enter your country in a more positive way.
