Or unhappy.
There’s lot’s of valid reasons to move abroad, and it’s an educational experience – but i would advise against moving abroad because you’re vaguely dissatisfied and think somehow it will be better out there.
Been there, done that. This is what i learned.
FACT: people are the same everywhere. The cultural undercurrents are different, but you get the same shares of nice people and narrow-minded stupid people. If anything, less prosperous or war-scarred countries might make it more difficult to find out who are the nice ones.
FACT: to put it bluntly: you stay yourself. The ability to be happy depends largely the ability to make the best of what you’ve got, to see the positive side of things, and to be able to spend a time doing things you like. That works wherever you are.
The psychological luggage that makes your life what it is just now will be with you when you get off the plane. If you want to be happy anywhere, you need to work on that as well, not just move and think you will be a new you.
FACT: change of scenery also means change of habits, assumptions. You’ll need to get into the local culture and history to really start to get half of the casual conversations. Think of film references, jokes based on advertisements from 20 years ago, religions and childhood figures. Open-mindedness: position of females, outlook on homosexuality, other aspects vary widely.
It might be even more of a shock in the US or Australia, where people look like us, talk a familiar language, but definitely have a different culture. Not to underestimate.
Most conversations will start with ‘where are you from?’, which can get annoying after a while. Also, while being a foreigner makes you attractively exotic, it also makes you a bit of an outsider. A lot of expats end up ghettoing away with their own countrymen, just because the effort it takes to get past those barriers.
FACT: it takes time to build a new support cast. You will miss what’s going on in the lives of your current friends and family. A loving group of people you understand is also an important component of being happy, for most people. That will only come clear to you after a few months, when the excitement wears off, in what’s known to most expats as the first bout of homesickness.
So anyway, it’s not that easy. It’s better to start for the right reasons (job opportunities, nature, weather), and with reasonable expectations. Then the experience will be worth it.
I agree overall, but it think that it’s the cultural shock that makes moving abroad such an interesting *and* daunting step.
I think it’s never easy, but I’m sure some people will cope a lot better with it than others.
As long as one doesn’t have a romantic view of how it’s going to be, it should be OK. This text is mostly directed to people basing themselves on a holiday experience to imagine how it would be.
In itself, it’s certainly interesting, might do it again if an opportunity presents itself.
“Wherever you go, the sky is up and people are people.”
You’re mostly right, but I have to disagree somewhat. There’s nothing difficult about moving to a different country. Sure, cultures are different, but that just means you’ll get annoyed at different things. There are always some things you like and some things you detest. If you’re not willing to put up with that, then moving anywhere “different” is simply not for you.
I don’t know why I found it so easy, to move to a different country, twice, but it’s one of the few things in my life I’ll never regret. It’s an experience that’s been very rewarding, even if I sometimes felt very much alone in the world.
I suppose it’s easier for some than others, like Inferis said ! Good for you
i liked it, but ultimately was happy to come back (after 4 to 5 years) mostly because of my family. A place is as good as the people you know there, in my experience.
What you say about the “psychological luggage” is very true.
My two cents: “there aren’t good or bad cities, there are just good or bad adaptation capabilities”.
Being latin american i can say not only cultural issues affect your integration to the place. After living my whole life in a hot desertic place i moved to scandinavian countries to study and work. and well, my opinion after some years is: wow its cold up here.
Torito: of course you’re right
everything that’s different will take time getting used to.