The Identity-Shaking Experiences You Have While Living Abroad
Being an immigrant or expat will stretch your limits and sober your ego.
If you were offered a coveted job in your field, but it was in another country, would you accept?
For me, the answer was a resounding “yes.”
The excitement of obtaining your first job is euphoric. You know there will be challenges along the way, but you’re only focused on how amazing it will be, and now you finally have an answer to all the “So what’re you doing after college?” questions. There were also perks of watching eyes widen when I mentioned moving countries.
Living in the middle of another culture is filled with wonder and novelty, but it’s not the only experience.
There are moments and ongoing experiences full of hardships and dysphoria. These feelings are worse when you realize you never had to experience them in your home country, but they’re the reality of many immigrants and expats.
You feel suffocated in your second language.
It’s a jarring experience when you want to say something, but you can’t. You physically can’t. The first time it happens, you think it’s just a fluke. After all, you’ve been communicating with others for…
