8 Expat tips that you should know before you go

8 Expat tips that you should know before you go

As many of us dream of changing our lives; To draw in sunnier realms and better food, nicer people and cleaner air. Countries are shown as a panacea, as a balm to relieve the evils of life.

According to the results of our ongoing expat survey, 85 % of the expats have the feeling that they made the right decision when they moved abroad*, which indicates that expat life is actually everything that matters.

1. Even if you are in an English -speaking country, communication will be difficult

We all understand and accept that it will be difficult to move to a country with a foreign language. What is less aware of us is that communication is difficult, even if we speak the language. Strong accents, localized jargon and different customs can be confusing.

An American in Scotland can nod and smile as often as a brit in Burma. Don't expect it to be easy just because you speak the language.

2. Everything will take much longer than you expect

tracy, a medical student from Baltimore, told us: "When I moved to Oxford in Great Britain, everything was so difficult. I could not conclude a telephone contract because I had no address, but I couldn't get any address because I didn't have a phone.

Conversely, Stefano, a British living in La, found it difficult to get west via the big pond: “In the first few months I had a British credit card, so I had to pay in advance at the counter every time I wanted to fill up and just advise how much petrol was. received. "

you can expect illogical bureaucracy and laboriously slow progress in the first few months.

3. You will lose good friends from home

You may have known each other for 10 years and have gone through a dozen separations and reconciliations together, but sometimes an ocean or continent is simply an obstacle.

Kerry, a British expat in Australia, told us: "When I went, Sarah and I swore that we would meet every week and be part of the life of the other. When she got her first daughter, I sent her flowers and a Skype invitation. We tried to set up something, but things came into the way again and again. A year later I still did not meet her daughter."

accept that some friendships steal and stall, but do not let yourself be prevented from closing new ones. There are hundreds of location-related expat groups on Facebook and LinkedIn as well as curated lists of people who can be followed on Twitter. There are also numerous online forums and organizations that take care of newcomers. With 1.9 million members in 390 cities, the free member has the world's largest membership and organizes over 4,000 events all year round.

4. You could feel guilty

You started a bright new life in a sunny country and left your parents and siblings behind. What you quickly recognize is that you still have problems, but now you can't be there for you. Sure, you can send words of support, but you're not really there. This knowledge fulfills many expats with feelings of guilt.

Pat> Patrick, a freelance tour guide in Ecuador, told us: "My parents are pensioners and my father started to get problems with his knees. My mother is a nervous driver, but had to take the wheel to drive him to his appointments.

5. There will be sexism

It will not always be as blatant as a driving ban in Saudi Arabia; It will be more casual sexism that surprises them. An expato we spoke to said her boss in South Korea told her that "women shouldn't smoke in public". Another said her headmaster told her that she was "so beautiful". - not quite appropriate to the circumstances. Another exppiner, she was excluded from sports after school at her workplace in Qatar because she was a woman ("They were quite open about the reason and saw nothing wrong in telling me").

It is difficult to just keep the flap and accept this, but it can be helpful to remember that every country is still developing. Women can choose in the United Kingdom for a century, but there is still a considerable gender -specific wage gap. No country is perfect, but every country continues to develop, even if it is painfully slow.

6. You get the common red tones

The common red - Holly Golightly describes them as "terrible ... Suddenly you are afraid and do not know what you are scared."

The common red let your decisions question, you spive on to feel lonely and frustrated, ask you why 10 degrees have not eliminated your problems and neuroses. They point out that they still haven't found things out and let them doubt that they will ever do it.

go out, say yes, visit a course, find friends and try things out. The common red tones will still pass - but they will also pass.

7. A sweet rural village may not be the right thing for you

Small rural villages are small and charming for a certain reason: Expats do not move there. This reason can also explain why they don't fit in there. Sure, you want to experience the local culture, but maybe you don't want to (or don't know how). There is so much that you have to get used to in a new country, maybe it is better to start in a big city with its amenities, possibilities and support systems. As soon as they are familiar with the local customs and language and have found their way around, they can consider moving to a small village. The transition will be far less overwhelming in this way.

8. You may never be accepted

The Canadian expat Keith loved his seven years in South Korea, but, after realizing him, it went to be accepted as a local one: "I said the language, I had a Korean friend, I understood the culture, but I always wanted to be a foreigner."

Keith told us that sellers argued about who would help him because they feared that he would make them speak English; that he shouldn't try on clothes because he could stretch them; That waiters would automatically bring him for forks instead of chopsticks. In addition, from an age, Koreans had a visible resentment.

"The experience of the older generation with foreigners is not great and therefore they can often be hostile to the outside world. I was fed up with smiling as if it didn't bother me."

• breakdown of the answers I am sure that I have made the right decision: 64%I think I have made the right decision: 21%I am not yet sure whether I have made the right or wrong decision: 11%I think I made the wrong decision: 3%I have been sure that I have made the wrong decision: 1%

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