What You Need To Know About Living Abroad
And how to decide if it’s the right move for you
Living abroad is life-changing. Living abroad is also tough. It’s easy to see the perks of a life abroad. Don’t we all want to experience a new culture on some level?
What’s often overlooked are the complicating factors. Yes, you will indeed get to experience a new culture, but it’s not that simple.
You will have to be totally honest with yourself and self-assess. These are some of the questions you should be asking yourself.
- Do I know — or I am willing to learn — the local language?
- How will I adjust to the climate difference (if applicable)?
- How will I adjust to a very different lifestyle?
- Is visiting home possible? If not, am I okay with not seeing my family for long stretches of time?
- Am I in a good place financially?
One of the mistakes I made when moving to Japan was not learning Japanese. What made things worse, Japan is one of those countries where English is not considered a second language — not even remotely.
I struggled big time. Even having intermediate listening and speaking skills isn’t adequate, and I find that it’s quite difficult to socialize properly with non-English speakers.
That’s why I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with the local language, at the very least. Anything more is a plus — and trust me, locals will appreciate it.
I’ve witnessed friends and coworkers who get on swimmingly in Japan because their Japanese is very solid. For those who are near fluent, life is swell.
I mentioned the change in weather, which may or may not be something to pay attention to in your case.
In Japan, summers are unforgivingly humid. While I’m used to and can handle the heat, I have trouble with that stickiness that drags on for three or so long months.
Still, this isn’t such a big deal. Unless, you’re planning to move to a country with extreme weather, don’t worry too much about the seasons throwing you off your game.
Lifestyle should most certainly be taken into account. Where you come from can vary hugely from where you’ll be going. And that’s the point.
To me, it’s much more fun to go somewhere exotic. That way I’m completely thrown for a loop. This means, of course, more time and effort to get your bearings, and more patience to put up with all the radical strangeness around you. But it’s infinitely more rewarding in the long-run.
When I arrived in Japan, I was forced to acclimatize to many customs that would’ve spun any American’s head.
The Japanese bow and nod for everything, and there’s little to no handshaking here. The Japanese are reserved as a whole, so the majority of conversations are extremely basic, even dry.
Although it was frustrating at times to understand the flow, I eventually caught on. I’ve realized I’m way more adaptable than I’d anticipated.
On that note, I should touch on attitude.
Attitude is absolutely key to living abroad.
With a positive attitude, you’ll be well-equipped to cope with the challenges you face. Maybe that’s the language barrier. Maybe it’s how the post office is run.
With a poor attitude, you’re bound to get frustrated quickly. You’ll compare everything to back home, saying stuff such as, “Why can’t they do it the American way?”
While you’re living abroad, depending on where you are in the world and where home is, visiting could be out of the question. Make sure to bear this in mind when choosing whether to make the move. If family is that dear to you, it might be better to think it over, or to live somewhere closer.
With that, understand that moving requires lots of money. If you want to visit home, tickets aren’t cheap — especially when vacation time is confined to three weeks in a year as they are in Japan.
Luckily, modern technology can help us stay in touch with loved ones.
But messaging, emailing and Skyping on a consistent basis isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. You have to factor in time zones, work and sleep schedules, and just mustering the sheer will to set something up.
A sad reality is that you’ll probably become more distant with your social circle. I did with mine. It’s one of the tradeoffs of living abroad. No one can be in two places at once, and nothing can replace in-person conversations.
But at the end of the day, living abroad shouldn’t have you tearing your hair out about what to do. Though you will have to give up some creature comforts — all expats must miss some food unique to their homeland — it’s a beautiful adventure that leaves in the dust any doubt as to if it was worth it.
