Have you moved to a completely foreign country?

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2

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  • HealthyVitamins
    HealthyVitamins Posts: 432 Member
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    From UK to South Africa
  • Eastern_Echo23
    Eastern_Echo23 Posts: 198 Member
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    I was born and raised until I was 23 in the US (Michigan) and now I live in Germany..

    the main difference is that there is not as much fast food, they don't like soft drinks as much and offer way less options and flavors, the bread is better quality, the cheese is better quality, they have public transit so I can walk instead of drive everywhere I go, they have fancy bakeries in almost every town, the beer is better and you can drink more of it....

    now that I think about it, I like it here :D

    really though I walk to the store almost everyday or two to buy fresh produce and I walk to the Uni almost everyday for class... So the long term health benefits of not owning a car are amazing... Cheers!
  • JasAbyG
    JasAbyG Posts: 39 Member
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    Hmm I can see what you mean, however the EU countries are becoming more like states, so moving from Ireland to England or to Belgium may not be considered that foreign, or to anywhere English speaking like Canada or Aus...I think in common use it would be reserved for more exotic moves like China, Japan, Egypt etc...I think the American perspective may be different to the EU or commonwealth view. (source: I lived in NZ and the US as well as EU)


    Me too. By the way isn't *every* other country "completely foreign" by definition?
    [/quote]

    Yeh I don't think I made myself clear. Is there anyone that made a permanent change? To not only an "exotic country" but, a small town/city/village, wheres there are no other "westerner/foreigner" other than your self?

    Idea of "Completely foreign": to change one's clothes, language, living standard, cultural vales/ethcs etc.... than what they were brought up with. To something you haven't seen/heard or even imagned before
  • Alpina483
    Alpina483 Posts: 246 Member
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    American who moves around a bit as an ESL teacher. I've taught in Italy and Korea and am moving to Russia next week.

    Next week! Hope you'll like it here ))
  • grggmrtn
    grggmrtn Posts: 171 Member
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    I'd like to see someone with the greatest change. Who has changed their clothes, eating habits, language, cultural values/ethics, living standard etc...

    Thanks for the responses

    Well, I became an expat 24 years ago, and haven't spoken either of my mother tongues very much since then (except for my years living in France).

    Clothing has changed since, well, it's been 24 years.
    Eating habits - no mac and cheese since I was 18. Not the boxed kind, at least. It's been hell.
    Language - I've always spoken the language of the country I've lived in. I'm now fluent in 7. 10 if you count the ancient languages I studied in university.
    Cultural values - I've become MUCH more Acadian since I moved away, rediscovering "my" food and traditions
    Living standard - was tough living in Eastern/Central Europe immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, other than that, I was 18 - I'm hoping my standard of living has improved since then ;)
  • SwitzEngine
    SwitzEngine Posts: 3,418 Member
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    Was born in Switzerland, lived in Paris and now New Zealand
  • Tinyfigure
    Tinyfigure Posts: 575 Member
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    Yeah. Born in Britain, lived in Germany, Argentina and Italy.
  • araviel
    araviel Posts: 19
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    Norwegian here, went to Hong Kong at 17 to go to a boarding school for 2 years, then moved to London, then Beijing, then London again, then Edinburgh and now I've been back in Hong Kong for a year, before returning to Edinburgh for some time and then who knows... I certainly don't rule out making a permanent change at some point, possibly Hong Kong? I do love it here, but have to consider my fiancee in 'permanent' choices. Moving around has all to do with schools, of course. Now I'm in anthropology which is rife with folks moving to new places and 'immersing themselves in the local culture', so to speak.

    I do speak Mandarin, would consider myself semi-literate in Chinese, and I'm working on my Cantonese. Nothing beats Chinese foods, though it's good to be in a place that has the world's cuisines at your hands for whatever you feel like. I can, and usually do, eat anything with chopsticks. Anything. I usually end up cooking Chinese, too. For clothing the biggest change for returning to Hong Kong is having to upgrade my wardrobe to include fancy shirts and business attire, this is the city where you will look underdressed and out of place otherwise. I definitely have a life here, I've joined a local dragon boat team and I sing in a local rock band consisting of me and 4 local dudes. I don't know if this is 'extreme enough', and I can't say I care as I'm very, very happy, haha!
  • bregalad5
    bregalad5 Posts: 3,965 Member
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    American who moves around a bit as an ESL teacher. I've taught in Italy and Korea and am moving to Russia next week.

    Next week! Hope you'll like it here ))

    Thanks! I was supposed to leave tomorrow, but there was a delay with my visa so I'm stuck visiting Australia for an extra week. Poor me ;)
  • wesleycneill
    wesleycneill Posts: 64 Member
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    I live in Bahrain now, and will be here for roughly a year.
  • icmuse
    icmuse Posts: 263 Member
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    Czech moved to the states 16 years ago.

    Big lifestyle change. Some for better, some for worst :glasses:
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I'm English and lived in France for a year as part of my degree, but it's not really a massive cultural change, although obviously a linguistic one.

    My sister has lived in China, weirdly enough in Hainan for some of the time like previous poster. There were a lot of things she found hard and just very different.
  • miamiink89
    miamiink89 Posts: 103 Member
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    I've been living in South Korea since last September. I head back to Scotland in 7 weeks though.
    The food here has been a challenge. They're not so veggie friendly and I miss a lot of things from back home, however it has been a fantastic experience. As for the language I'm ashamed to say I can only read korean, I cannot hold a conversation. I had good intentions of learning but found my way around without it.
  • YaGigi
    YaGigi Posts: 817 Member
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    Afgani.

    Have moved a lot, it's so easy for me now. I feel like a gypsy, can't stay in one place for too long. Now I jst travel a lot.

    Lived in Russia, Uzbekistan, USA (all different states), Switzerland, France. It takes me 2 days to pack my whole house and only 15 minutes to pack for a 2 weeks travel, including evening gowns and 5 pairs of Louboutin shoes.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    My father was French and my mother is Ecuadorian, and I was raised in the U.S. Outside the U.S., I lived in Brazil for two years (as a child), France for three years (young single adult), and Kenya for five years (married with a small kid). All were very different from each other and from the U.S. Language differences are obvious. Clothes, not so much, though I did dress more conservatively in Kenya. Eating habits -- feijão in Brazil, baguettes and vin in France, nyama choma and ugali in Kenya -- it's all good. Living standard, hard to compare bc I was at such different stages of my life. As a child in Brazil, we lived like upper-middle class Brazilians. As a young adult in France, I was pretty poor but made do with two jobs and cheap wine. In Kenya, we lived like upper class foreigners. Cultural values and ethics...hard to answer in a sentence. You respect the culture of the host country as much as you can, but you're still a foreigner so you have your own. I guess it's about finding a balance bt the two.
  • ranganayakee
    ranganayakee Posts: 67 Member
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    An Indian here. Moved to America and in Canada here for the last 5 years. Still love my INdian food and have fallen love with winter here :p
  • jsiricos
    jsiricos Posts: 338 Member
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    A Brit in the US, since 1986, still miss home, miss being able to cycle everywhere, walk ..food... miss home :(
  • patfriendly
    patfriendly Posts: 263 Member
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    Yes. From India to USA.
  • CantStopWontStop92
    CantStopWontStop92 Posts: 165 Member
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    Born in Zurich, Switzerland and lived in Turin, Italy for two years when I was 10:) Incredible experience, my folks had lived in Switzerland and Germany for some 10 years beforehand so they made sure we took full advantage of the travel opportunities
  • yelliezx
    yelliezx Posts: 633 Member
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    I'm English. Lived in Malta for 3 years and now live in Canada. Have been in Canada for 4.5 years now.

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