| When we met neither of us had lived longer than a | | | | foreigners into "good" and "bad" or "acceptable" and " |
| year in a foreign country. We both had worked for | | | | not acceptable". People stare at you when you speak |
| international companies and had traveled a lot, but | | | | a different language on the bus. Luckily he managed to |
| we'd never settled down long enough in a foreign | | | | enroll into a language program and everything worked |
| country. When we finally decided to move together, it | | | | out fine. He met lots of other expats from different |
| was "my" apartment, "my" hometown and "my" | | | | countries and they had similar problems and a similar |
| friends. | | | | taste in pub culture. |
| Moving to a different place is never easy, but moving | | | | Since our two children were born we sometimes feel |
| to a foreign country and without speaking the language | | | | like the odd ones out. People have a hard time |
| fluently is even harder. Additionally he came from a big | | | | imagining that there can be more than one nationality |
| city and I lived on the outskirts of a 120,000 person | | | | or tradition in one family. They are also being tested if |
| town. Country living to him! After introducing him to all | | | | they really speak both languages fluently and if they |
| of "my" friends we found out that he liked them, but still | | | | manage to do so, the surprise is huge. Of course we |
| had to find his own; which is hard while working a 40 | | | | are very proud of them and of ourselves to pass on |
| hour week. I showed him all the great things you could | | | | both of our languages, traditions and the wider horizon |
| do in a mountain area and found out that skiing, | | | | of having parents from different countries. |
| mountain biking and hiking are not his thing. Also doing | | | | After living together with an expat and the expats |
| all the official paper work like driving license, working | | | | community for almost 10 years (two of those years in |
| permit and becoming a local in the nearest pub is hard | | | | another country where we were both expats and I |
| work if you can't speak or write the language. | | | | looked for teaching jobs overseas), I think everybody |
| All of a sudden, there is a person living with you that | | | | should have to move away from their home at least |
| doesn't know anything about how things run in your | | | | once in their lives. In order to appreciate how their own |
| country. Things that come naturally to you and you | | | | country a lot more and to realize that getting settled |
| wouldn't waist a minute thinking about, become a | | | | somewhere else is not an easy thing to do. But I am |
| problem. I started to wonder how complicated things | | | | also sure that many would think differently about |
| are for the expat's community in my home country. | | | | foreigners in their own country. |
| Additionally, I found out that my country categorizes | | | | |