Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses concepts of re-entry. It describes the student experiences in re-entry using the voices of students who have gone before university students. The book provides enlightening examples of academic research to help university students understand the multifaceted transition of intercultural re-entry. It explores the student experience of coming home after having spent some time studying and living abroad. Reverse culture shock is the "temporal psychological difficulties returnees experience in the initial stage of the adjustment process at home after having lived abroad for some time." "Reverse culture shock is the process of readjusting, reacculturating, and reassimilating into one's own home culture after living in a different culture for a significant period of time." Returning from a meaningful experience abroad—or intercultural re-entry—cannot be defined as simply "coming home."