Living abroad and being a foreigner or immigrant

[No Longer Active]

Sounds like a good initiative, I don't think I've seen anything like that myself anywhere.

In Sweden, they bend over backwards to give immigrants a good start. I'm very impressed with how I have been treated since I came here.

 

[Nekodaiden]

It must be very lonely living abroad if you don't have any immediate family near you.

I've been living as a near-hermit (I do have some friends) for the better part of 2 decades now. I feel the sting of loneliness sometimes, but I am fairly accustomed to my life, such as it is. Family relations, or group relations (such as being a member of a group such as a church, society etc) have definite perks, and there are definite perks being an outsider as well. The primary one that comes to mind is the strength of an independent mind that is not subject to peer pressure, either from family relations, or group relations. I have a cat. She's family and she isn't trying to convince me to be anything other than what I am, except when her food bowl is empty or she wants to play.

 

[Second Summer]

For those of you living in a country where you speak a language other than your native tongue, did you learn this language before you arrived in your new home or did you learn already know how to speak well enough to get by?

How many languages do you speak?

I already knew English relatively well before I arrived. I probably sounded a bit "Norglish" at times, but these days I think people struggle to pinpoint my accent, even if they can tell I'm not a native speaker.

In addition to English, I obviously speak Norwegian. German I speak to some extent, and I can understand Swedish and Danish relatively well, although I struggle a bit with spoken Danish. So, I have a decent grasp of Germanic languages, whereas I only know a few words in Romance languages.

 

[KathyFerments]

I think there are a couple of members here, including myself, who either currently or in the past have lived in countries other than the one in which they were born, grew up or have citizenship. So I thought it might be interesting to 'compare notes' and share experiences.

Some questions to get the discussion going - answer as many as you like

• How did you end up living in another country?
• Is the language an issue?
• How do you cope with living far away from your parents and other family? Do you often go back on vacation?
• Do you ever intentionally meet up with fellow countrymen while in your new country? Do you still keep up with the news and TV series etc. from your home country?
• What aspect of your home country do you miss the most?
• Do you miss living in your home country? Do you plan/hope to ever move back?
• Do you plan on getting citizenship in the country where you live?

• How did you end up living in another country? We had friends who had moved to Mexico and loved it and had visited them here several times. We were looking for change as well.
• Is the language an issue? For me, not my husband. I need to get back into Spanish Classes.
• How do you cope with living far away from your parents and other family? Do you often go back on vacation? Much of my family has passed, including my parents and parents in-laws. We go back sometimes, but not often. I chat with my sister online and in phone calls.
• Do you ever intentionally meet up with fellow countrymen while in your new country? Do you still keep up with the news and TV series etc. from your home country? We have Mexican friends here and international friends too. I am active in Democrats Abroad as well. Yes, I keep up with the News and international News. I think it's important.
• What aspect of your home country do you miss the most? Sometimes I miss the seasons and variety of environments. It can be hard to find some things too, but we use a shipping service for stuff that normally wouldn't be delivered to Mexico.
• Do you miss living in your home country? Do you plan/hope to ever move back? There are aspects I miss, but honestly, I don't want to move back to the U.S. I don't recognize my country anymore.
• Do you plan on getting citizenship in the country where you live? We may, not sure. We both have our Permanente status here and that's enough for now.