This article examines the notion of applying the social construction of meaning to the experience of an international faculty exchange. Specifically, the article analyzes challenges and changes in the three major sources that people draw on to provide meaning in life: (a) social relationships, (b) work and leisure activities, and (c) convictions to idea systems. It is argued that separation from one’s home culture in an exchange produces discomfort and adjustment burdens resulting from the discrepancy between the new cultural setting and these three sources of meaning. Strategies are suggested for coping with sources of potential meaning uncertainty related to the exchange experience within the context of existing relationships, activities, and idea systems.
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