When I was home, I saw a lot of family and friends, but also met a lot of new people (friends of friends) or saw some old acquaintances When they find out I live in Switzerland, their reaction is generally something like this...
"Oh how exciting! Do you love it there? It must be so fun to live somewhere new!"
Well let me tell you, the grass is always greener. Here are some things to think about for those of you contemplating moving out of your own country and to somewhere
exciting....
1) Wherever you are going, they probably won't speak your language. That means that it will be difficult to find jobs, make friends, and generally get on with your daily life. You will feel stupid, time and time again, as someone says something you don't quite understand and you have to ask them to "repetez lentement, s'il vous plait". This is NOT a nice feeling. Even after years of living in the same country, you will be pegged as a foreigner and you never quite fit in. And while we are on the topic of languages....
2) You have to deal with a foreign government, in a foreign language. Generally the government tries its best to make it difficult for you to live there. You will get scary official letters in foreign languages and ask your fluent friends to read them because if you make a mistake you could get in big trouble...
3) ... or have your living permit/working permit revoked. Remember, you don't actually have a right to live in this country. That means you are living in a state of semi-constant fear. What if my permit isn't renewed in April? Does this mean I have to leave in the middle of my job? The future is always a bit uncertain and based mostly on how the government feels about you at any given moment.
4) You live in a country where you probably pay taxes, but have no rights to elect a government or vote for measures or changes to laws and policies. For short stays, this may not matter, but if you intend to live somewhere else for a long time, it can get frustrating that you have no influence on the decisions of the leaders that affect your everyday life.
5) Life over here is pretty much the same as everywhere else. I get up way too early, drag my cold bottom to work, work all day, get back on the bus, go home, cook dinner, do more work, go to bed. Wash and repeat, but add in the language difficulties and things are always a bit more challenging.
6) You will live far away from everyone you love. This means missing birthdays, holidays, celebrations, and more. It means every time you want to see these people you love, you have to pay hundreds if not thousands of your hard earned cash to get home. Yes there is Skype (thank goodness!) but nothing beats a hug from the people you love (especially mommy and daddy!)
Now the awesome parts of living somewhere exciting:
1) Travel! America is SO big that it is expensive and time-consuming to leave. From where I live, France is about an hour away, Germany 2-3 hours, Austria 4 hours, and by plane nothing is more than 2ish hours from Geneva. It makes it easy to go away for a quick, exciting weekend. Generally though, we stay home or spend our time traveling to see family and friends because we are so exhasted from working (see #5)
2) The chance to learn and USE a new language! The trick is to not make friends that speak the same language as you and to just throw yourself in. Speaking more than one language is a great skill that I am happy to have gotten the chance to learn.
3) You get a different perspective and see how things can work in different places. You always see your own, and other countries, differently when you live somewhere else. Switzerland does many things very well: transportation, cheese, chocolate, cleanliness, efficiency, helping people find jobs... I'm sure the list goes on. It also has negatives: racism, xenophobia, landlocked, lack of GOOD food variety, attitudes toward women (you must stay home! you must do the laundry!), no lunches served in school (go home to your mother who can't work because she has to cook you lunch!), and I'm sure I've missed a few. You learn that every country has good things and bad things and there isn't a BEST country out there, just different ways of dealing with things.
4) You meet a lot of very interesting people from everywhere. Expats seem to attract each other, and so you end up with friends from different countries and get to learn about their thoughts and perspectives. Meeting people from around the world really opens your eyes and changes your views. I especially liked learning how to drink a real cup of tea.
5) Experiencing what a new country has to offer - in my case I get gorgeous mountains for snowboarding and hiking, a freezing but beautiful lake, and many cute and interesting towns. This changes from city to city and country to country of course, but it is always interesting to explore a new little corner of the world, wherever you end up.
I've got a lot of friends living abroad here, and many more friends thinking about it... any other interesting thoughts? Good/bad things about leaving your home country?
See? Busy busy, but still great and I wouldn't change any of it. Looking forward to more exhausting adventures as Paul and I head to Tignes in France for our ski week next Saturday (6 days away!!!) Then 4.5 weeks until spring break. I'll try to keep this updated as best I can :)
