Going Back Home

Sharon de Hinojosa, Korea

Sharon de Hinojosa holds a BA in Liberal Arts from the USA and an MA in TEFL from Spain. She started teaching while in university and since then she has taught in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Sharon is currently an assistant professor at Sungkyunkwan University in Suwon.
E-mail: sharondehinojosa@gmail.com

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Introduction
Do research before you go
Figure out what you want to do and where
Take a couple of trips back
Talk to people
Don't forget about your family
Be persistent and don't give up

Introduction

There comes a time in everyone's career that you are faced with a choice to either stay abroad or go back home. Many people decide to go back home. If you've only been gone a year or two, it might not be that difficult to get back into the swing of things. Likewise, if you've been gone a while, but go back and study a Masters or a PhD, it might be easier than those who go back and work.

Although we may enjoy living abroad, few and far between of us can fit into the lifestyle of a new country. And while many people spend years abroad, while they can often grasp the language, they may never quite adjusting to the cultural differences. From a humanistic standpoint this would appear to take place as we need to be with those who have similar ideas values as we do. There’s often just something about us that struggles to fit into the new country, no matter how hard we try. Therefore, going back home seems like a viable option.

If you do decide to go back and work, making the transition back home can be very difficult, especially if you have a family accompanying you. There are ways to make the transition easier on you. Just look at the tips below.

Do research before you go

Try reading up on Reverse Culture Shock before you go back.

Figure out what you want to do and where

If you're looking to get out of TEFLing, consider how you can apply your experience and skills to other fields. If you like teaching, decide where you want to teach: a community college, university, school, or institute. Once you decide where you want to teach, start doing research about where you want to live. If you're going back to the US or Canada, you'll have to narrow down your choices to an area. As soon as you do that, start sending out your CV.

Take a couple of trips back

Before you plan on going back, you should try to go back home for a month or two. By doing this, you can looking into housing and do a couple of interviews as well. If you have children, you could look at good schools for them to attend.

Talk to people

Talk to friends and family back home and let them know that you're going back. Ask them about job opportunities. You could also network on job forum boards and TEFL discussion boards. You might also consider attending a conference back home before you actually move. Bring your business card and let people know that you're looking for a job.

Don't forget about your family

You'll probably need a visa to take your spouse with you. Visas can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to months, so be sure to plan in advance.

If your spouse doesn't speak English, you'll have to look into English classes. You might also look into settling in an area that has people who speak the same language as your spouse. For example, if your spouse is Chinese, settling near Chinatown might help make the transition easier for your spouse if they have someone to talk to and share their feelings. Finding a job for your spouse is another thing you'll have to consider. Settling near an immigrant community can help with that.

Be persistent and don't give up

It's often much more difficult to move back home than it is to move overseas. You expect things to stay the same, but they don't. And you'll be treated like everyone else. Whereas, when you're overseas, people often go out of their way to help you.

Please check the How to be a Teacher Trainer course at Pilgrims website.