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Old 01-19-2016, 06:58 PM
 
Location: western East Roman Empire
9,296 posts, read 14,188,570 times
Reputation: 10013

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Quote:
Originally Posted by dmlandis View Post
is it difficult to come back to the states after living abroad? The longer I live away - the more scared I am of the gun violence, racial animosity, and political buffins (sp?) I treasure my American citizenship but think it might be real culture shock to come back home and live with Joe the Plumber types. Living in China I enjoy the fact that it's super safe and cheap - and visiting Europe I enjoy the walkability and culture. What are pros and cons of coming back?
In my view, the answer depends on the reasons why you would come back. Each one has his own set of measures.

In my experience, when I most highly valued culture, learning about history, and walkability/good public transportation, outside the US and in certain European countries was better. During those years, the thought of coming back to the US was painful.

However, when I most highly valued owning a business, efficiency, convenience, and assuming the financial responsibility of a family, then the US appeared better simply by the numbers, all mixed in with a combination of bad luck and good luck (but mostly good luck).

Those were my measures.

If you were to adopt similar criteria, you may favorably view coming back if, for instance, you wanted to set up your own language school.

I understand kevxu's point of view in the sense that if I were of retirement age and alone, I would probably go back to a country like Portugal.


In your case, my suspicion is that you are not ready to come back (if ever).

On that view, then, some unsolicited advice (no intention to offend, but possibly to help): you offer fluffy excuses to justify yourself for not living in the US and for living abroad, when the real reasons are more personal and concrete; so don't fool yourself, don't worry about what others might think, measure your own reality, enforce the hegemony of your own interpretation, live by it, and don't worry about making a change when the concrete circumstances are right for you.

All the best, then, and Good Luck!
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Old 01-19-2016, 07:40 PM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
27,261 posts, read 28,317,220 times
Reputation: 24771
Quote:
Originally Posted by dmlandis View Post
The longer I live away - the more scared I am of the gun violence, racial animosity, and political buffins (sp?) I treasure my American citizenship but think it might be real culture shock to come back home and live with Joe the Plumber types.
Sounds like you may have drinking a little too much cool-aid/propaganda. The things you mentioned above don't affect most people's lives. There are plenty of very safe, clean places to live in the U.S.
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Old 01-19-2016, 09:42 PM
 
Location: Phoenix
29,783 posts, read 18,638,771 times
Reputation: 25769
Quote:
Originally Posted by adrianf91 View Post
Why did you pick those countries? And why not Australia and/or Canada for example? Given you already know English...
I enjoy my time in Spain, Chile, and Thailand and they are inexpensive....Canada is okay but too cold and expensive. I've never been to Australia but it's expensive and I don't think I would enjoy it. I speak sufficient Spanish to get by and want to improve my Spanish to full fluency.
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Old 01-19-2016, 10:45 PM
 
Location: San Francisco
317 posts, read 370,371 times
Reputation: 229
Spain much easier country to be an expat than China (IMHO). I'm in my Madrid hotel staring out after tapas wine and a flamenco show. It's wonderful to be able to speak the language (I speak Spanish) and interact with people. Then again, how many work opportunities are there for teachers. I see that teachers in international schools make something like 1000 euros a month with taxes taken out and it's not cheap. Salaries in China and the Middle East top US salaries in many cases.

I think that whether you want to come home or live abroad depends on where you live. To be a permanent expat, you need a place that is not xenophobic, that has people whom you can identify with, that has lots of things to do, and a decent climate. China is missing in that aspect - good coin! but the pollution make it such that we spend a lot of time in our 20 plus story high rise waiting for 2 month vacations. It's also very difficult to interact with locals because of language barrier. Middle East might be better in that respect - more expats, less pollution (though hot), - but then again I have not been there yet to work

Coming home depends on where and when - if you have a home to return to (ours is rented out and we can come back to it - in SF), and contacts and family, and some sort of income or pension, then it's great. On the other hand, if you were out of the country for 20 years and arrived at JFK Airport or O'Hare or wherever with no fixed home,no friends, and nothing to look forward to - it would be an absolute nightmare.
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Old 01-20-2016, 06:49 AM
 
10,275 posts, read 10,242,234 times
Reputation: 10644
Quote:
Originally Posted by moria-casan View Post
He says he hates being constantly reminded he is black, he prefers being a person. (In America your skin color is your letter of presentation) while overseas people overlook race more!
LOL; definitely not true. The whole world looks at race, and most of the world is much worse than the U.S. for racial stereotyping. Latin America, Middle East, Europe and Asia are all much worse.

Quote:
Originally Posted by moria-casan View Post
America likes to think of itself as a beacon of modernity and equality but the more you look at it, the more you realize it's all make believe!!!
And that would be why it's (by far) the most popular country on earth for immigrants, has the highest incomes on earth of any major country, and has the best economy of any major first world country?
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Old 01-20-2016, 07:02 AM
 
338 posts, read 333,035 times
Reputation: 162
It is difficult for me to relate to people in the west in general. The USA feels too close to being surrounded in that area. I prefer Australia as it is well isolated in feel. I look at Asia and even Africa, they combined with the anglosphere outnumber the westerners and all over 2 to 1. Yet they hold a fraction of the power not counting the USA.
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Old 01-20-2016, 07:55 AM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
27,261 posts, read 28,317,220 times
Reputation: 24771
Quote:
Originally Posted by moria-casan View Post
He is into walking and riding bikes and he says in the US everything is car oriented, which is why Gyms are so successful and shopping malls are the places of gathering, because the immense majority of cities are car oriented and suburban.... most people have nothing to do after work so the gym and the shopping mall are the places to spend time on!
This is true to an extent, and it's because Americans often choose to live this way. People with families like to live in big houses in the suburbs as opposed to a small apartment in the city. And they like the freedom of movement that owning a car brings. There is also plenty of open land in the U.S. that makes it that much easier to do this.

However, the reality of it depends on where you live. If you live on the east coast like I do, you are in proximity to a number of cities that have traditional urban form and good public transportation. Same thing with Chicago and San Francisco. It doesn't make sense to tell someone who has lived their lives in these places that American cities are just suburbs.
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Old 01-20-2016, 09:09 AM
 
Location: Monnem Germany/ from San Diego
2,298 posts, read 3,106,962 times
Reputation: 4796
I have been living here for almost 16 years. Since my parents died my brother is my only living family in the US. It would be pretty hard to move back without having a job lined up and all that.
Not that I would move back.
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Old 01-20-2016, 09:56 PM
 
Location: MD's Eastern Shore
3,637 posts, read 4,769,766 times
Reputation: 6273
I had lived outside the US for the better part of the 2000's. In Costa Rica. I was probably a border line "X-Pat" but never completely referred to myself as one. I loved CR and want to go back but I never considered it my "home" even though I rented a place year round and had most of my stuff there. i had no place in the states as my "home" was considered my parents house for mail, visits, and ID.

Coming back to the US for me was always welcomed, so it was never difficult. I looked forward to leaving Costa Rica every 3 month's (visa purposes) and going to the states.

It was nice to get in my car and drive down quality roads where practically everybody followed the laws and knew how to drive. I didn't feel I was risking my life getting in the car or just walking down the street.

I loved the fact that I was returning to a place that if I had an empty refrigerator and got thirsty in the middle of the night I could drive down a well lit street (in many places) and go get a coke at a local quicky mart of some sort.

Paper work and paying bills was a piece of cake and I was never treated like a possible crimainal every time I went to the bank upon returning.

It was also nice returning to a place without such a "paranoid" culture in which everybody lives behind iron bars or builds houses, even nice ones, and then puts up a 10ft tall concrete wall around it with an iron gate and spikes along the top.

I was returning to a place where I could keep doors unlocked and keys in the car.

I could actually get some sleep in peace and quiet without having the neighbors blast their music at ridicules levels from 11PM to 5 AM. I can deal with loud music but come on, there is a point in which it becomes noise as it is at a level beyond what the speakers can take and crackle statically and sounds like crap.

There are many other things that I loved upon returning. Finally, all the negatives got to me to the point that I just bought a place here in MD and moved back 100% to the states. I'll leave those Latin American country's, though I love them, as places to visit but just like I said when living there, I never wanted to live there. I was only there for the fishing. And the night life but living in tourist oriented beach towns along the mid atlantic and florida coast puts me in plenty of spots with great nightlife as well.

So basically for me, not difficult at all coming back!
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