Michelle spent 18 years as a trailing spouse in three countries before moving back to India — where her adjustment adventures have continued after all, as chronicled in her new book, “Becoming Goan: A Contemporary Coming Home Story,” one of our summer reading recommendations. This is Part 4 of her story.
After nearly two decades as an expat family in Dubai, Bangkok, and London, we focused on repatriating to India once construction on our house in Goa had been completed. Working towards this goal, my husband Bharat accepted a job in New Delhi at the end of May 2011, and we landed “back home” in India that summer.
Contrary to the expectations of the ease of returning to a home country, however, this was a difficult adjustment. On the Gupte Scale, it ranked a mere 6/15: 2 points for destination, 4 for resources, 2 for timing.
We arrived with no place to live (staying in a temporary service apartment) and no school admission for Divya, who was entering her junior year of high school. We wanted her to attend the American Embassy School (AES) in New Delhi, but the school could only get back to us in August — just days before the term started — about whether a spot would be available.