Have you ever lived/worked abroad?

[GearZ]

Hello all.  I am curious how many here have lived and worked in a country other than the one of your origin. 

Where did you live?  How did it go? What were some of the struggles you encountered?

Thanks much.

[Daedalus]

I currently live abroad. Some issues I've had, some accents are difficult to understand. Especially in a noisy or crowded environment, I still struggle sometimes to understand people.

There's also a lot of things I just don't know how to say. Some small things, like in English you can have "is it?" at the end of a sentence. For example: "That is not very far, is it?" Well I know that, but there's more like that in my native language that I just don't know in English.

Also, a lot of things are different. You can get products here I've never heard of before and I want things that they don't sell here. I need to be told exactly what to get when I go shopping, because things are so different. I might just get a completely wrong product, if I just get a name they give me.

[Xikro]

Unfortunately, at this point in time I haven't lived anywhere abroad. Born and raised in Canada all my life, and haven't even seen the outside world yet . I've been to India once for a small vacation but no where else. Though, living in a foreign country where I don't understand anything is something on my to-do list and sounds like a really exciting adventure.

Right now, I'm finishing university so hopefully after I'm done I may try to live somewhere like Japan or Korea for a year or two and see how that goes.

[leahcim132]

Not yet, but I would like to in the future. I think it will be a good experience to learn new culture and new language. I think the only problem I will encounter is the culture shock of the new country.

[kitkat0124]

Yes I did, I am from Philippines. I worked in the US. I find it easier because English is my second language. It was fun. I learned a lot.  My co workers was mostly from the Philippines, so I did not have to adjust a lot.  Although I also experienced racism. 

[polybus]

I have lived abroad a few times now. The biggest and most important one was a year living in Taiwan teaching English and learning Chinese. I have also lived in Saudi Arabia, England and the U.S. (I'm from Canada).

Language and culture issues were the toughest in Taiwan and Saudi Arabia of course. The language barrier was toughest in Taiwan at the beginning, but of course that's why I was there so I learned as quickly as I could.

[deyvion]

Within 2 years I will live outside of Sweden. I will move to Turkey, and right now I sit and think about how I will learn the language - if I should learn it beforev(go to school, etc), or when I move (exposure). Once you figure out the basic rules of the grammar, I believe Turkish will not be so difficult - however, since I still haven't figured them out it seems like for every verb, etc, I learn, there are 10 different changes to it. Also the accents can be quite difficult, I have noticed.

But, we will see how it goes. =)

[Jellyfish]

I did but it was just another country where people speak German. Not only but mainly.

[seotut]

I am planning to do just that in the future. I don't think the language will be the problem but rather integrating into the community, making friends, and fitting in. In that case, your language will improve very rapidly. But integration is often very difficult to achieve, it depends a lot on your personality, but also on the nature of your host country.

[Hardison]

I lived abroad as child. My father was the US Army and he was stationed in Germany. We lived there for five years. My younger sister was born in Frankfurt.

I would love to live abroad as an adult for a couple of years. I have many friends and acquaintances who moved abroad. Not one of them has regretted the move.

[Gregor]

Several times. I lived in France for a year teaching English. It was difficult especially financially. The up side was that it was Paris we lived in and our first child was born there.

I also lived in the Netherlands which was difficult from the work perspective, and I lived in Malawi as I child - an idyllic childhood, but then I was a child.

[evapfromm]

I guess I am "living abroad" right now, since I am a German immigrant in America. I spent half of my life there, and half of my life in the Chicagoland area. I'm hoping to take the opportunity to spend a few years in a completely different country. Maybe Ireland, Scotland or New Zealand.

[Abanks1000]

I spent my junior year in college as a student in Paris. I lived with a French family in the Latin Quarter a couple of blocks from Notre Dame. Many years later, I had the opportunity to work in The Bahamas, Hong Kong, and Jamaica. As much as I enjoy enjoyed living abroad, I returned to the USA to be closer to friends and family.

[Trellum]

I actually worked for a while in Norway, I was an au pair and lived with a Norwegian family.  I really recommend this culture exhcnage program, the pay isn't too bad either, plus you get to meet a lot amazing people while you are working abroad.  This job made me a more independent and open person, plus I met my first boyfriend this way.  I had never been so happy in my life before, not the way I was when I was living and working in Norway.

[DiesIrae]

Not yet. Within a year, I'd be moving to the US though to get married. I might also have to work with phones, talking to people so I guess that will exercise my tongue in the American accent. I'm not that worried though because I did work in customer service talking to Americans. I'm more excited about learning to live in the culture itself which can be very different from what I'm used to.

[Jellyfish]

I actually worked for a while in Norway, I was an au pair and lived with a Norwegian family.  I really recommend this culture exhcnage program, the pay isn't too bad either, plus you get to meet a lot amazing people while you are working abroad.  This job made me a more independent and open person, plus I met my first boyfriend this way.  I had never been so happy in my life before, not the way I was when I was living and working in Norway.

That must have been some nice experience. Norway is a very rich country and still one of the favourite countries for a German to move to.

[wholesaleblogger]

Hello all.  I am curious how many here have lived and worked in a country other than the one of your origin. 

Where did you live?  How did it go? What were some of the struggles you encountered?

Thanks much.

Santiago in Chile for 6 months last year. There wasn't a huge shock in terms of surroundings etc as it is a developing city with everything you would expect.

However, perhaps the biggest differences are first, the men are so bad mannered to women and the customer service in companies and businesses in general is almost non existent.

[ashwinr1]

I have not yet got the chance to work abroad but am happy to work in my country! I have gone for some short business trips to a few countries in Asia though!

[Aphex]

As a native Dutch speaker that has now been living in the UK for the past 5 years I found it remarkably easy to adjust to life here and didn't really struggle at all. The only thing that was a slight problem sometimes was people speaking with a very, very heavy Geordie accent but even that is very understandable for me now.

[TABL]

When I was 14, I went from home (USA) to Spain for a month as an exchange student.  I lived with a host family.  I had a great experience!  They brought me around the country, and Portugal too.  We saw cathedrals that were gorgeous.  I spent lots of time at the beach, and at night, the night life was wonderful!  I had ice cream that I've never been able to find again but it was so delicious.  I cherish the memories from that time.  I wish I could go back now!

[mareebaybay]

I have never worked or lived abroad before either.

[Denis Hard]

I volunteered to work for an aid agency based in Southern Sudan, stayed there for three months. I couldn't speak the local language so it was very hard for me to even make a purchase at the local markets. In addition to that, I didn't get along with the other expats who worked there and they made it their priority to make my life miserable. Since I was just volunteering, I left as soon as I could.

[True2marie]

My father was in the military. As a result, I lived in the Philippines for a few years. This experience taught me a lot about how different cultures view the world.

[Baburra]

I've had long vacations in the U.S., Thailand, and Singapore, and all those countries are very English friendly, so I never really had that much trouble. I imagine that it's even more true nowadays that everyone is going online and getting to practice their English more. That, on top of all the American shows that we all love to watch.

[dickybird]

I am from the UK and i have worked in the US, I was lucky to have the English. I now live in Turkey, alot of people do speak English. However I would love to be able to speak Turkish flutently and not have to say, excuse me do you speak English or take one of my translator friends with me. I can speak the basics and understand words, so I can normally grasp what a converstaion is about. However I struggle with speaking back in Turkish, I get nervous and feel emabarassed that I will say something wrong. I do believe you need alot of confidence when learning a language and cannot wait until I will understand and be able to reply in Turkish.