Emigration

[Benjsec]

One thing I've always wanted to do is spend a few years living abroad. No particular place, although America & Canada have always appealed and with my current weather grump California sounds heavenly!

I know there's a few people on here who've moved countries for one reason or another, so I wanted to ask about your experiences.

Why did you?

How did you (move where you wanted then look for a job; find a new job where you wanted; transferred within your company)?

How do you cope with not seeing family so often?

Or really just ignore the questions and let me know your thoughts They're just the things playing on my mind.

[Georges]

I spent a year in Canada as a student.

Why did you?

At the time, I planned to move there permanently.

How did you (move where you wanted then look for a job; find a new job where you wanted; transferred within your company)?

I went to university. (I wasn't happy with my degree/field. Looking back, I wish I'd applied for graduate school, instead of a second undergrad degree.)

How do you cope with not seeing family so often?

Badly. You definitely want to have a strategy in place - I didn't, and it was not a good thing.

Or really just ignore the questions and let me know your thoughts

The two things that blindsided me were culture shock and homesickness. Culture shock because I figured that Maine and Canada were more alike than different. (I was right, but that just made the differences into ninja-culture-shock-attacks... out of the blue and twice as devastating.) Homesickness because I figured that, as an introvert, it wouldn't be that bad... and made no plans to cope with it.

[JediJem]

I moved from Sweden to England in 1993

Why did you?

It was supposed to be a gap year between high school and uni...19 years later I'm still here.

How did you (move where you wanted then look for a job; find a new job where you wanted; transferred within your company)?

I worked as an au-pair for the first year (what was supposed to be the gap year), then studied and worked from there on.

How do you cope with not seeing family so often?

In some ways I guess it gets easier as you get older and just get used to it, but it's also a hell of a lot easier to stay in touch with people now than it was in the early 90's (skype, facebook, email, cheap flights....but I can't stress skype enough). It's still hard though, and the only thing I really miss about Sweden (apart from decent winters) is my family.

Other stuff: I second what Georges mentioned about those unexpected culture shocks. Somehow when you expect two places to be fairly similar in a lot of ways, the things that aren't become all that more noticable. The other thing about living in a different country/ culture is that regardless of how many good friends you have and how well you communicate (e.g. sharing the same language) with people in your new setting, you will become very aware that your background is very different. Little things you never really think about like the programmes you watched as a child, cultural references you take for granted, the meaning of certain holidays, foods etc - you have no-one to share your history and that can feel very lonely at times.

Definitely worth doing though!

[Zorch]

I spent about 2 1/2 years mostly living abroad, between China and Japan(early 2009 to mid 2011)

Why did you?

I went on an assignment in China for work. That led into an assignment in Japan.

How did you (move where you wanted then look for a job; find a new job where you wanted; transferred within your company)?

Transferred within the company. Had folks helping with the paperwork.

How do you cope with not seeing family so often?

I'm single; I had an easier time of it than many of my colleagues who were married and/or had kids. Other than that, phone and email were my primary connections back home. But perhaps most important was making friends in my new country. Having a social circle in your new location makes it feel much more like "home". I think the people I had around me in the countries I was living in was the absolute most significant thing that made a potentially intimidating experience much easier, and quite fun at times.

As the others have mentioned, you WILL get the unexpected culture shocks(Sometimes funny, occasionally brutal), but I think it's a valuable learning experience. Assuming you go some place that's reasonably different from your homeland you will truly gain a new prospective on life. I find, being back in my home country now, that I look at many things quite differently (and in fact, there are many things I actually prefer about living in Asia). For me, it was definitely one of the best things I ever did - and I'd wholeheartedly endorse it for anyone that's at a point in their life where they're in a good position to do so.

[maegs]

I spent a year on study abroad in Australia. I knew what uni I was going to, and I got housing through them, which had the added benefit of having 2 roommates around my age who I could hang out with, ask questions of, etc. My parents & one brother came to visit for a few weeks at Christmas, and otherwise we e-mailed and Skyped on a pretty regular basis. I did the same with friends - e-mail, Facebook, and Skype, as well as sending some people postcards every now and then. I had lots going on between school, meeting people, traveling, sight-seeing, and such, so that probably helped with homesickness, although I've never really gotten homesick. Like Zorch said, being single and making friends quickly (through university events before classes started) made it easier too.

In terms of culture shock, I imagine the difference between England and Canada would be comparable to Canada and Australia. There weren't many huge, glaring differences, but little things that were a little bit different or off. Like one time we were thinking about buying some ice cream to share, and wondering how much a liter was, and I said a liter is the same as a bag of milk. Cue a chorus of "What? A bag of milk? WTF?" and me going "Wait, you don't have milk in bags?" lol.

To finish, I'll add to what everyone else is saying - it was definitely worth it!

[alan713ch]

Why did you?*

I am currently studying a PhD in Chemical Engineering. So far I've been away from home for a year.

How did you (move where you wanted then look for a job; find a new job where you wanted; transferred within your company)?

I applied. Long story, I met who would become my adviser while in undergrad, and he invited me to do research over the summer. I liked it so much I came here to get a degree.

How do you cope with not seeing family so often?

Not easy. I miss mostly the food and the friendliness of the people. Not that I haven't made friends: I actually joined a frat (and met some of the most amazing people ever) but there arethese little differences in behavior and culture that surprise me, and make me miss home. I keep in touch with my family via Skype, and I've also used cooking as a way to deal with suddn depression attacks that I might get every once in a while. Thankfully I learned from my mom more stuff than just comfort food.*

It is a big deal. I visited home once for Christmas and I definitely felt a little different than when I left, and that impacted my relations some. Sbut so far I am happy with my decision, though I do question it (mostly because of the political situation going on in my country, makes me wonder if I should not be doing something about it)