9 Comments

  1. suzer
    March 18, 2011 @ 6:11 am

    We might have to agree to disagree – but I could write an entire post on that! You sound lucky to have settled easily;)

  2. suzer
    March 10, 2011 @ 11:19 am

    Andrew, I think this takes a long time to achieve for a lot of expats!
    “I think the hallmark of an expat is that feeling of existing happily in two worlds nearly at the same time.”

    • Andrew
      March 13, 2011 @ 10:19 am

      It can take a while or it can just work. This has some to do with the mindset and how hard you resist that state. It ends up being about balance, which is often really difficult to achieve (at least for me). Maybe “existing happily” is too strong and what you are hesitating about, but “existing without major problems” sounds weird. It is the act of thinking it normal to go to the grocery store and not notice the brands that are different from home. Or not complaining endlessly about the host country and meaning it.

  3. suzer
    March 8, 2011 @ 5:20 am

    I’m very lucky in that no one back home puts any pressure, or really asks, if and when I might move home. The biggest difficulty is finding the time to see and do everything I want to while home.

    • Sabrina
      March 8, 2011 @ 2:55 pm

      That’s great! Most of the time my family is happy for me, but these questions tend to bubble up when I visit at home. I’m glad that yours let you just get on with he regular crazyness (as many people and as much as possible in a short time) of a home visit. 🙂

  4. Sabrina
    March 7, 2011 @ 8:28 pm

    This is such an interesting topic to me! I sort of struggle with it to some extent – as probably most expats do to. I go home to Germany at least once a year and shoot for twice if I can manage somehow. My stays are usually short, but I still enjoy them. What makes it difficult sometimes are expectations of friends and family back home… “When are you coming back?” is a question I hear often and that I find difficult. I am equally happy in both worlds and wish that people could understand that the choice is not so easy. Do you have similar expectations from your family back home?

    • Andrew
      March 8, 2011 @ 7:48 pm

      I think the hallmark of an expat is that feeling of existing happily in two worlds nearly at the same time. So sometimes it is quite difficult to deal with only being in one world or the other fully.
      My mom every so often talks about when or if I ever move back. That is about the most pressure I get now a days from home. I get oddly more pressure from the German side asking me if I will ever move back.

      • Sabrina
        March 9, 2011 @ 3:32 pm

        The German side? Crazy! Maybe they don’t understand how you could prefer Germany over your home country/city…. I guess the grass is always greener (for those who haven’t actually tried it…)

        • Andrew
          March 13, 2011 @ 10:15 am

          The grass can certainly BE greener, but you never now what they have done to make it that way. Tons of work? Paint? Piles of manure? So sometimes the question isn’t whether the grass IS greener, but whether greener is better and even if it is, is it worth it?