'17-things-change-forever-live-abroad' [haven't read yet]

[JR8]

http://masedimburgo.com/2014/06/04/17-t ... ve-abroad/

[Fortan]

http://masedimburgo.com/2014/06/04/17-t ... ve-abroad/

Absolutely gold that..... enjoyed every single line of it ! Thank you so much for sharing. Like reading your own thoughts

[ScoobyDoes]

A nice article and all perfectly true.

Points about how nothing changes 'at home', how we learn to be patient, how in the end we have no 'home' as most non-expats consider home.

Four countries in twenty years, I have a place where I grew up and where I came from and a place where I live. I have a UK passport but the place is not 'home' and unlikely ever will be again so am I technically homeless? Yes, I have a place where I live, but it is not home and for the moment I've not spent a long enough time anywhere so call a place home.

This, as was also said in the article, is what nobody 'back home' understands.

[rajagainstthemachine]

1. adrenalin becomes part of your life
- not yet, I wish it did though

2. when you go back...everything looks the same
- so true! when i descend into Bangalore, I'm usually hoping for a positive change, instead its the same shit...and then there is my mother lol.

3. you lack words
This Has happened to me so many times that im unable to explain some of my experiences without others thinking im boasting.

4.courage is overrated
not entirely true in my case

5. Suddenly Im free.
yes yes and oh yes, now if only I can make it last for a bit

6.no longer speak 1 language
- i always knew 5 so not entirely true, but i did pick up a lot of words here and there.

7. Learn to say goodbye and enjoy yourself
- I haven't, its impossible to strike the right balance.

8. Have two of everything
- yes I do, coin/note mix up happens all the time

9.Normal
- finding a different way of doing things,happens to me all the time

10. Tourist in my own city
- how true this is, it was only the other day I decided to go see gardens by the bay and i've been here what two years now

11. Be Patient and how to ask for help
- Be patient yes, sometimes it has been frustrating though.

12. Time measured by tiny little moments
- I've mostly lost touch with events/things happening back home and I no longer care about some of the people back home save for my immediate family members.

13 Nostalgia
- yes I do miss somethings back from home all the time, nevertheless they are minor irritants but I've learnt to cope without them

14.But you know it’s not where, but when and how
Not sure about this one

15. you change
- yes I did and evolved I would like to think in a positive way

16.You fit your home into a suitcase.
- Been living in a suitcase since 2005 :s

17. And… there’s no turning back
True

[the lynx]

I am firm believer that when you move abroad to work, that's when you start living. The reality of life is the most real at that time. And you cannot swap that with studying abroad. Your belief gets challenged and your horizons are forced wide open, and that's when you have no choice but to learn to discern between the right and wrong.