Living abroad in a different culture and lifestyle - a fascinating first hand experience which has motivated many people to go and live abroad. Unless you plan on living abroad...
Foreign culture and lifestyle
Living abroad in a different culture and lifestyle can be a fascinating first hand experience and has motivated many people to go and live abroad. Unless you plan on living abroad in a 'ghetto' with other expatriates, then you might want to consider the intellijeune ratio of the town or city where you are planning to live.
Kuri writes on 'exceptional people' living abroad in Japan, "Every foreigner you find happily living in Japan is an exceptional person. Not everyone is likeable, but they are definitely out of the ordinary. Living abroad requires a sense of adventure, a willingness to learn, and either a flexible open mind, or a seriously strong sense of self."
I'm convinced that that comment applies to foreigners living in any country. Remember that when living abroad you will be living as a foreigner. The status of living as a foreigner forces you to think differently. Everybody is a foreigner in most parts of the world!
Joi Ito comments on the opening speech made by Koji Murata-sensai at the Izu-Conference. "People who know only one country could not even understand their own country."
He notes on the Champon.org web site comments from another participant at the same Conference.
"Someone randomly noted that Japanese bureaucrats are generally the best students from the best universities who can't speak English. The others are going to foreign firms. No wonder the bureaucracy doesn't understand the US."
How true. How can you hope to understand people and another culture until you learn the language? It beats me. That is a big part of the fun of living abroad. Besides, if you do not understand the language, how can you laugh at the jokes? The language is as important as the wafts of different flavours emanating from the street-side restaurants. Yum...
This is the second part in the series. Part 1 on What motivates people to live abroad can be found here.
