What is it like living far away from home?

 

You may or may not know that I was born and raised in Germany. I left Germany in 2007 because my husband got assigned a new duty station and of course, I followed. I now live in Florida about 5000 miles away from home, how is it living so far away? What happened to the friends I had back home? So many questions, let's explore them!

How is it living so far away from home? Honestly, it’s a mixed bag. Sometimes I am glad that I am away because I am far away from drama that can sometimes happen but many times it is really hard, especially now that my Grandpa is getting older and my brother just had his first child, I don’t get to see them as much as I wish I could. Gosh, I am tearing up just writing this. It is not easy, especially if you are really close to your family. I think that I am pretty lucky to live in this time where we have the internet and so many ways to communicate, so I can text my Dad and my brother and call my Grandpa when I want to, we don’t have to rely on the postal service that can sometimes take quite a while. (Not kidding, a few times letters I have sent took a month to get to Germany, a thing I quickly gave up upon).

One thing I believe not many people open up about is that friendships change, sometimes people simply forget about you much like “out of sight out of mind”, other times people see you as a shopping center and only contact you when they want something from you. Not saying that this applies to all friends because it doesn’t. I am lucky that I have a few friends that I am close to who act like I am not far away and still talk to me like I’ve never left. I am extremely thankful for them because it does get sad when you miss people you used to talk a lot with or see a lot but then on the other hand was it really a friendship when it seems to have been mostly one-sided? When leaving home, you have a lot of realizations about life and the people around you. It’s quite interesting.

Reverse culture shock is a thing. Not only is culture shock a big part when first moving to a new country but it is also applicable when going back home after a very long time. I don’t get to go home very often, I tend to have reverse culture shock or feel like I don’t quite fit in anymore. I found it exciting yet overwhelming when I last went home, So many things I wanted to see, eat, and experience but my mind was so stuck in living in the US that I had to get used to being back home. My last visit was a long one so I was able to enjoy it all after I got over my mini culture shock but yes it is a thing. I know a lot of my friends who also live in the US don’t get the reverse culture shock quite as bad but a lot of them make a yearly trip back home. I find Culture shocks, as a whole, incredibly interesting, wouldn’t mind diving deeper into the topic 😊

Language barriers are also a thing. I was lucky that I learned English in school and at least understood it when I moved to the US. The only things I didn’t know were little cultural things like “How are you” being more of a greeting than an actual question (Yes that was awkward in the beginning) and little saying but other than that I could understand and communicate. I had the incredible privilege to have lived in South Korea and there the language barrier was greater luckily a lot of people knew English but I made sure that I could at least get by in Korean, knowing numbers and simple questions so I could buy stuff at the store or ask for directions, I thought to be important.

Living in a different country is not as easy as some people may think it to be. The people who have left their home countries, in many cases, have given up a lot to live abroad. Making the big move to leave home is not a small task and it takes a lot of bravery and honestly, should be acknowledged.

 If there are any other questions you would like me to answer on the topic of living abroad, feel free to comment and I shall see what I can do 😊