ABSTRACT
Returning home 14 years later proved to be challenging since one has to adjust to one’s own family, rediscover local cultures and fi nd a job. Since there were no re-entry programmes for overseas returning students, one had to adapt to one’s own culture as best as one could. While in the USA we were encouraged to speak our minds, returning home meant one had to think twice before speaking, because thinking out loud was not regarded as highly appropriate for women. Dressing was another issue – the t-shirt and jeans were replaced by bajukurung and shawls. More formal attire was necessary at the workplace or in public spaces. At the workplace, in this case the university, I had to rediscover and sometimes learn the academic vocabulary to teach Research Methodology in the Malay language. My American twang had to be restrained to conversation among friends who were few at that time.
