Have you ever lived in a foreign country? What tips would you give for adjustin

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   hockey8mnposted 11 years ago

   Have you ever lived in a foreign country?  What tips would you give for adjusting to the change?

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   ReuVeraposted 11 years ago

   I lived in two new countries for 10 years in each. I never had a problem with adjusting. My secret is- do not look for faults in the country, especially at the beginning. No country is perfect and people everywhere are the same, you will find awesome friendly people as well as nasty ones. However, you should never take bad things close to heart, do not notice faults. Look only for good, bright sides of everything. Accept the country as it is. Do not criticize anything from the beginning. Live according the laws of the place. As they say, in Rome pray like Romans, or something like this. There is also a saying, don't bring your own laws into a strange monastery.   Be positive! That's all.

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      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree and would only add that embracing the culture will make life easier for you.  However, you did pretty much state that.

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      ReuVeraposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, this is exactly what I meant- embracing the culture. I usually say this, but this time I was in a hurry and just didn't put this into words. Thanks.

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   Mercia Collinsposted 11 years ago

   I live in France and have done for some years. I am from the UK. Each country is different, and you should not impose your own cultural thinking onto the country. Your cultural standpoint is very different to that of the natives in the land in which you choose to live. It is their country and you have no right to criticize. ReuVera's advice is excellent.
   
   There is but one thing I would add. In France, there are some Brits who try to make France into England and other Brits who try to be more French than the French, I believe it to be better to try to steer a middle course.

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      Rod Marsdenposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I know what you mean about imposing your own cultural thinking onto someone else. There were overseas people that tried to force their own cultural standards of dress onto the people of NSW by attacking women wearing bikinis. Result?There was a riot.

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      Mercia Collinsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You should also accept that you will never understand some things about the natives and laugh at yourself.

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      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Being able to laugh at yourself is important.  I know I made a lot of mistakes while learning Spanish haha.  Comes with the nature of learning.

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   Prakash Digheposted 11 years ago

   I'm an Indian and spent my first 20 years in India, followed by 4 years in West Germany, then later some 22 years in Kenya and Tanzania(East Africa), and now about 8 years in the US.  It certainly helps to know the local language (particularly in Europe), and of course the local customs. Be sensitive to the people on issues that they deem important. And be prepared for a totally different world and lifestyle. You might be amazed at how you start looking at things in a much broader perspective once you live in a foreign country.

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      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You certainly have made the rounds with places you lived.  You sound like a teacher I had in high school.  He has taught on 3 or 4 different continents in 10 plus countries.  Sounds like you have lived an interesting life.

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   Rod Marsdenposted 11 years ago

   I'm an Australian. When I was a kid I spent a month in the USA. It didn't seem like a foreign country at the time since culturally Australia and the USA, even back in the '70s, are fairly similar. In terms of language I was a bit surprised. There was a couple from Texas that were friendly and wanted to chat. The thing was they were difficult to understand because they stretched out their vowels so long you could hang laundry on them.
   
   Also, when I stayed in Hawaii, I couldn't work out why some of the locals couldn't tell the difference in accent between me and a group of girls from England staying at the same hotel. The girls were nice enough but I could tell straight off they weren't from Australia and they could tell straight off I wasn't from England. Actually, we got along well comparing notes as to where we came from.  After that early episodes of MASH made me laugh when this fellow that was supposed to be an Aussie turned up. Despite the way he was dressed, he  was definitely more British than Aussie.
   
   Still I loved Hawaii and have great memories of New Orleans and its street artists.
   
   I enjoyed my adventures on the street cars of San Francisco. I marvelled at the redness of the Golden Gate Bridge. I wondered why it wasn't painted gold or at least yellow. I travelled along it aware that it was a clothes hanger just like the Sydney Hardbour Bridge only a tad longer.
   
   Some years later I visited Bali and found a mixture of poverty and optimism. The optimism of the late seventies was winning out. This was before the bombing at Kuta. I was saddened by this act of terrorism and so were the Balinese living in Cronulla, NSW at the time. Their own people as well as ours were hurt by it. We had no hard feelings towards them, just the bombers who came from elsewhere in Indonesia. I think the smiling bomber who was caught became the most hated man in all of South-East Asia for a time.
   
   I think you can learn a lot about yourself and your culture when you travel overseas. I have never tried to impose my beliefs on anyone when travelling. Mind you having a sense of humour and a willingness to explore does help.
   
   Years ago people from overseas tried to force their values onto the south coast beaches of NSW. They were against women wearing bikinis. By mistreating our women and hitting a life guard who had just saved a life they caused a riot.

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   lilian_sgposted 11 years ago

   I am currently living in Singapore. Originally from Malaysia. The cultural differences are not too vastly different. But there are still some minor things which I have to adapt too. For me, I would say that everything got easier once I made some local friends So do mix around with the locals.

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