by Jed Eane

Created on: June 20, 2008   Last Updated: July 11, 2009

For some people, making a successful transition from living in the country they regard as "home" to a foreign one can be difficult. So difficult, in fact, that they never truly feel comfortable enough to stay and pack up and move back home after a few months.

Others, though, manage the transition well enough. Well enough never to miss home, or any aspects of their old lifestyle: well enough to call the country to which they've emigrated "home."

And you never know which one you're going to be until you come to do it.

I thought I was going to be one of those people who never missed home and wanted to stay living forever in the country I had relocated to. That's what's called the "honeymoon period," I believe. If you've recently moved to a foreign country and are feeling like that, give yourself a little time before you start making any commitments that you might not be able to get out of easily! Things change...

There were few barriers to my coming to live in this foreign country in which I now reside: my partner was living there; I would be able to work (not immediately, but after a year of our having lived together); there was no language barrier (well, not that much of one!). However, sometimes we overlook the fact that just because people speak the same language, they don't necessarily live in the same way.

There are cultural differences between my homeland and the land I'm currently living in, which I hadn't reckoned on. For starters, being used to getting around on foot, bike, or public transport, I now live in a city where the motor car rules, and public transport is scarce. That's not a good thing. In addition, I didn't know that I could have a choice of over 40 TV channels and be unable to find anything that I actually wanted to watch. I never thought that I would ever be extolling the quality of British TV programs! Nor did I ever think that I would miss shopping in Marks and Spencer's, Tesco's, or Waitrose, supermarkets in which I used to shop back at home. There are other things I miss, too. But then, you never appreciate what you have until it's gone.

But I consider myself lucky to be able to live comfortably in this foreign country; that I've been given the opportunity to do so. I haven't had to beg for work and can make a good wage if I want to. There are no wars in this foreign land; there's free healthcare, and education. There's natural beauty (although the architecture isn't really up to much). Things could be a lot worse...

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