10 Things That Change As Soon As You Start Living Abroad

Living abroad is, of course, a kind of reward. Even if it was short-lived, this experience can completely change you. For the better.

Kimberlynn Boyce, author of a popular blog for expats, talks about what life in exile usually looks like. In this issue, you will learn about ten things that inevitably change if you start living abroad. At least a month or two.

I’m not an expert on how human brains work, but something tells me that if you stop speaking your native language, sooner or later you’ll forget it. At first, you will begin to understand more and more often and better what your new compatriots are telling you on the streets. Then you will rejoice at how quickly you learned a foreign language. It will take another couple of months, and you will already start thinking on it! From here there is a direct road to forgetting the native language.

You will not forget, and when you get back into the Russian-speaking environment, you will again speak your native language perfectly, but without the constant support of the environment, you will make very stupid mistakes, you will say wild things like “take the bus” (not by storm, but get on it, in the sense) and constantly stumble:

— They did it to him… what’s the Russian word for it? The radio? No, not the radio…

— Television?

— You’re television yourself! Ah! X-ray!

I thought that after I moved, my suitcases with things packed for the move would gather dust on the far shelf. I even thought: “What am I going to do with all these suitcases when I get settled?” But I continue to use them even after years of living in exile.

The fact is that emigration seems to have freed me. I started traveling more and more often. And enjoy it. I think the same thing will happen to most of those who decide to change their place of residence: once they get out of the cage, they want to keep doing it over and over again. And yes, I am not sure that I will live the rest of my days in Brazil, where I live today.

You can live abroad for five years, then come home to visit your family, and your friends, meeting you in a pub, will ask: “How was your trip?” Sometimes I want to shout: “I’m not on a trip! I live there!” But they won’t understand anyway.

Therefore, I always answer this question according to a polite template: “So much has happened in these three years… We can have lunch together sometime, and I’ll tell you about my most vivid impressions!”

You can live in another country for ten years, but you will still remember about the exchange rate. You will visit shops at home and in your new homeland and constantly compare prices. Now this habit is a part of you that you will never get rid of, no matter how much you want to.

Despite the fact that many people believe that the world today is one global McDonald’s, this is not the case. And every culture, even neighboring cultures, may have their own ideas about what is acceptable and what is not. Somewhere it is normal for young people to kiss on the street, somewhere it is not. In some places, ordinary people are calm about smoking marijuana, in others they are not.

I left America at the age of 23. Back then, I thought it was wrong when someone was picking their nose on the street. At the same time, I always used a toothpick after lunch. Now imagine that where I am today, everything is exactly the OPPOSITE. I can clean my nose here in a public place. But I never got used to the fact that the public use of chopsticks for brushing teeth is abnormal.

But what’s really great is that understanding this difference makes you a much more free and tolerant person.

In America, you can’t invite anyone to a cafe right now. People live there according to the calendar. And they get mad every time they have to wait for someone for more than five minutes.

Now imagine that where I am now, it’s okay to be even 30 minutes late. And at first it didn’t please me at all: it was like I was stuck in glue, everything happens in slow motion, you don’t have time for anything…

But then you get used to it and adapt. Although you continue to be amazed at how some people are fixated on time, while others do not think about it at all.

Regardless of whether your life in a new place turns out the way you planned or not, you will never be bored and “ordinary” there. A miracle will happen every day.

I once devoted a WHOLE DAY to paying just two utility bills. Now I’m not sure if I’ll have electricity and water tomorrow. It’s so unpredictable… I just always have a “backup plan” — in case the work day goes to waste because of the irresponsibility of local electricians.

In general, unexpected things will happen to you ten times more often abroad than at home anyway.

And here is the main argument against emigration, which is often mentioned in propaganda: no one needs you there. It’s the truth. But I’ll tell you a little secret: no one needs you anywhere at all. You only need yourself. In fact, people are often afraid to move somewhere because “they will be nobody there” or because they are afraid of losing their usual job and familiar social circle.

I will say more. When you move, you will lose everything (except the MacBook and clothes) that you had. Familiar walking routes. Family gatherings. Favorite stores. Favorite foods (if it’s not Coca-Cola). And also smells, colors, weather and tastes.

On the other hand, it won’t bother you. You will get the opportunity at least for a while (often for a couple of years) not to think about your social status or what you are used to at home. The new world will engulf you completely. And you will understand that material success is not everything.

Before you go to live in another country, it would never occur to you that everything you want to take with you fits in a couple of suitcases. You won’t even remember half of the things that seemed to be very important.

Now you know for sure: you can pack up and get out of anywhere and anywhere in one day.

To start life with a clean slate? This thought now not only inspires me, but also comforts me. I know that you can always start over. Anything.

At first, you will often feel humiliated… You will have to ask people (often strangers) for help in the simplest situations. Every day everything will seem so complicated and unusual that sometimes it will even be scary.

But it will take a couple of months, and you will get used to it. And your heart will be filled with the feeling that you are capable of something much more than you thought.

“If you are brave enough to throw away everything decently cozy, and it can be anything: a house, old grudges, and set off on a journey for the truth, to seek the truth in yourself or in the world around you, if you are sincerely ready to consider everything that happens along the way as a clue, if you accept as a teacher everyone you meet, and most importantly, if you are ready to accept and forgive the difficult truth about yourself, then the truth will be revealed to you” (Elizabeth Gilbert).

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