The Hollywood film Lost in Translation popularised the idea that encountering a foreign culture may cause feelings of alienation, loss, loneliness and isolation. But can it happen in reverse?

When Claire Snowdon came ‘home’ to Oxford after spending more than 20 years working in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Far East, she had a strange experience.

“I found that, even though I was coming back to the country where I grew up, having been away from it for so long, I was effectively an expat here too,” she said.

This feeling of belonging ‘neither here or there’ sowed the first germ of an idea for her business, Expatknowhow, which is dedicated to helping companies and individuals get the most from an overseas posting.

Having worked all over the world as a senior retail executive, managing change programmes and culturally diverse groups, she has now built up her own business running courses and briefings for organisations and individuals on the move.

Before a recent scientific delegation to China, for example, she prepared a cross-cultural briefing for senior staff from Harwell’s Medical Research Council, to ensure they were fully prepared.

She also works with people travelling in the opposite direction, including a US engineer who had worked in China, but who needed help settling into a stint working at RAF Brize Norton.

She said: “The couple are now happily settled in their Oxfordshire home from home. The briefing meant that they could quickly begin to establish the sort of lifestyle they wanted in Oxfordshire rather than having to spend precious free time researching it themselves.”

She also provided a one-day cross-cultural module, designed for international students learning business English at Oxford Brookes University, to show them why intercultural communication skills are critical for an international business career.

She admits that for her, the personal side of settling back in the UK was not so straightforward.

She said: “Having worked in many different countries and being used to starting out again in new places, I thought that integrating myself socially would be fairly straightforward.

“My tried-and-trusted format would be to quickly find out where the expat community met and make myself known. A very warm reception would usually follow and in no time at all I would have a new circle of contacts and a good social life.

“After a little research, however, I was surprised to discover that there was no focal point for expats coming to Oxford. Not being able to communicate with others who shared my experiences of a nomadic expat life only reinforced my feeling of isolation and alienation.”

She points out that after being away for seven years, things have changed.

“You also change as a person yourself,”

she added.

“I did make a real effort to engage through social activities, joining a choir, a dance group and helping out with a theatre company, but really missed being able to discuss things with others who shared my expat back-story.”

In her research, she stumbled across a group called Focus (www.focus-info.org) based in London. Its origins go back to 1980, when five dynamic women from the USA surveyed a group of expatriates to determine what were some of the key issues and concerns when relocating to London. The survey revealed that there was "an overwhelming interest" in a centre which would provide practical advice on some of the common problems encountered by expats in London. The group grew into an international organisation helping expats from all over the world to settle into a new life in the capital city.

Ms Snowdon said: “Having attended several meetings, I knew that this was what Oxford needed, but knew also that to set up such an organisation on my own would be difficult.”

Now she has teamed-up with another expat returnee to Oxfordshire, Wendy Wilson, to set up a local branch of Families In Global Transition (FIGT), another US-based organisation dedicated to welcoming expats. The pair were attracted to the non-profit group because, as well as encouraging networking, it also researches cross-cultural issues.

Last month's FIGT launch at the Saïd Business School was attended by more than 70 people, many of whom were relocated to Oxford, some to take up a new posting in business or education, while others had followed their globe-trotting partners.

Ms Snowdon said: “Several people were interested in setting up networks, and we also formed a link with the Oxford University Newcomers’ Club.”

She added: "We will focus on three areas: cross-cultural issues, children and family. Wendy and I were overseas for a long time and she moved around with three children, so we both have a range of expat experience."

As well as running events in Oxford, the new branch of FIGT will also focus on the Science Vale UK, particularly the Harwell campus, which already hosts scientists and engineers from all over the world.

As for Ms Snowdon, although she is now firmly rooted in Oxford, she has not lost her wanderlust and continues to follow her life-long ambition to visit “all the Wonders of the World — ancient, modern, forgotten and natural”.