This chapter explores what is involved in global assignments, from moving abroad to returning home. Topics include: the purposes and types of global assignments; potential benefits and challenges of living and working globally; dealing with culture shock; choosing an acculturation strategy; and successful repatriation

Chapter 4 describes the emotional roller coaster of the belated homecoming in China for the aging civil war exiles and their Taiwan-born descendants, four decades after the initial displacement to Taiwan. Rather than being passive beneficiaries of democracy’s windfall, the most impoverished and disadvantaged mainlanders – the retired Nationalist soldiers – helped break down the barriers. They led the social protest that ultimately forced the hand of Chiang Kai-shek’s son Chiang Ching-kuo in his decision to lift Taiwan’s four-decade-long ban on its people traveling to “communist bandit territory.” Sadly, mainlanders’ elation and anticipation soon turned into shock, frustration, and disorientation as the home and family that they had longed to see again were nowhere to be found in the post-Mao PRC. The second- and third-generation mainlanders, who had never seen “home,” also felt estranged by the entire “return experience.” Yet, their sense of disorientation was relatively moderate compared to their parents’ and grandparents’. The chapter argues that the reverse culture shock of the belated homecoming in the PRC shattered mainlanders’ China-centered nostalgia and provincial identities. It paved the way for the rise of a Taiwan-centered mainlander identity based on the previously repressed memories of the great exodus.

Fieldwork can be exciting, and even addictive, but it can also be daunting and dangerous. Fieldsites range from a tent to established research stations. You may be close to home, or on the other side of the world. National researchers may be just as foreign to a local area as non-national researchers. You may be in a familiar environment or in a very unfamiliar one. Fieldwork often involves sharing living space with other people, and with wildlife. In this chapter I begin with what it takes to be a fieldworker, then cover permissions and logistics, field kit, personal safety, the social context, LGBTQIA+ concerns, natural hazards, physical health, mental health, and returning home.