Getting into the expatriate state of mind

It's been a rough couple of months. A number of friends have left to return home or travel, and more will soon follow.

Saying goodbye is often gut-wrenching. If you work or study abroad for any length of time, it's likely that you'll go through the process of bidding adieu multiple times, and it doesn't get any easier the more you do it.

But, of course, one person leaving means that another new person will likely arrive to take his or her place. But who knows the internal processes that a person goes through upon entering an entirely different dimension?