Does anybody else have experience with this or something similar?
A few months ago, I decided to move to a new country (okay, reading it like that it a seems pretty stupid idea). I am back in the old country for a little while and it seemed like a good time to take stock of how it all went.
On the downside:
I have no navigational skills and had to follow my flatmates everywhere for two weeks until I understood where I was going.
There have been complaints at work about my 'lack of empathy'.
On the upside:
I made a system for the cutlery in the apartment.
Questions my flatmates though too obscure or boring for people to know the answer to, I can answer.
But in all seriousness: I have found the experience to be positive: in a place where you don't speak the language, people will forgive you many things on account of 'cultural differences', and the opportunity to be anonymous is a great relief. Being rusty with the language means fewer people talk to me all day, and as a result I am less tired (being back here for Christmas: I had forgotten how much the presence of many people tires me out).
At first I did feel extremely uncomfortable and created a whole set of routines to calm me down (and now I get distressed if such routines are ever broken...), but I think it hasn't been half as bad as it might have been.
Has anybody else ever done something 'foolish' given their circumstances? That is, moved a great distance, or something else they didn't think they would be able to manage?
03 Jan 2018, 10:16 am
