With all the newness we are trying to cope with these days, we don't really have spare energy.
Since I got back people have been inviting us to meals and to visit their home groups. Thanks for your invitations! We really appreciate it, please ask us again later.
I felt frustrated that I feel stressed whenever we are invited somewhere. People often say, come over when things settle down a bit. But when are things going to settle down? I think I thought by now things would have clicked into place and felt normal. (Maybe I feel stressed cos I'm worried that by the time things do settle down for us, ppl will have assumed we are not interested to take up their invitation. )
I have been really looking forward to being part of church and a Bible study group with Soeun. We went to church in Cambodia together but it wasn't a shared experience. Mostly a language lesson for me, and a really busy time for him. So far we have been to church twice together here, hopefully we'll have more energy in the future to get to know people better. Our week night Bible study group has met twice, but only I have been, and only once. I wish we could be settled into church and group straight away! But feels like it will be awhile. We don't have many friends who are "our" friends.
I'm really excited that soon Soeun will have an opportunity to get to know the people I work with. I've really enjoyed getting to know my team mates and the international students, I can't wait for Soeun to meet them too!
2 comments:
Hey Katherine. Be kind to yourself. You are going through culture shock just as much as when you moved to Cambodia, and I suspect without the support of your family being near at hand, or a church family that you have a long term relationship with. It may take you six months or more to adjust to the change.
"On a personal level, missionaries and their families face tremendous adjustments when they return to their homeland. You will probably expect a smooth re-entry but will experience culture shock in reverse. As stated previously, changes in our lives, good and bad, cause stress. Going back to your home country involves as many changes as going to the field because of the changes that will have taken place within the homeland in your absence. Also, you will have adapted your views and life-style to that of the host culture and will now feel like a stranger in your own country." Quoted from "Thriving in another culture: A handbook for cross-cultural missions." by Jo Anne Dennert.
Katherine, don't be afraid to seek out someone who is experienced in supporting missionaries in re-entry. You may find it really helpful. Know that lots of people are praying for you. Yours expectations are not bad, but you do need to give yourself and Kimsouen time to go through the transition period. Hang in there.
thanks, yeah, i need to be patient. there is a couple from a mission organisation lined up to give us a debrief, we were meant to visit them the other saturday, but we just didn't have the emotional energy to go out, if we went we wouldn't have gone to church on sunday, and we already missed the sunday before, so we cancelled the good thing so we could make it to church, hopefully we'll get to meet them in a few more weeks
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