An Intense Homecoming

I have been planning for some time to post a story on our web site that chronicles the return journey of a young Danish woman who had a most difficult re-entry experience after her AFS year as a high school student in Kenya. Julie Gehl originally wrote this story in 1984, a few years after she had been on the AFS program. Read Julie's story on the AFS web site.

Julie's experience of Kenya left her confused about her identity as Danish. She had so fully taken on a Kenyan identity and set of values that she had a hard time finding her way back to Denmark. She returned to Kenya for a long visit to her host family and friends in Kenya, and somewhere along the line in this journey, she understands that her future is in Denmark and she finds the strength to meet the challenge of readapting to her own country again. Julie is now an oncologist in Denmark and fully participating in her own culture these days, but as she says in her story, "there will always be a little bit of Kenya in me somewhere."

Julie's experience is uniquely her own, but many exchange students will relate to the intensity of her experience, and the importance it had for her life. AFS wants every student to have a life-changing experience, and this means that going home at the end of the year can frequently be difficult. How can you return home after such an experience, and act you did before, as if you never left? Even when the home and host cultures are more similar, the changes brought on by the experience can be monumental. It is important to hold on to what has been learned and to find a carefully balanced integration with the way of life back home. Coming home is part of the journey abroad.

Bettina Hansel

Director of Intercultural Education and Research

AFS International