Kate, I must be like you because in each country I moved to I fit in right away and loved most of the food most of the time. My first expat experience was in Saigon. I remember going out to lunch with 3 co-workers for the first time. The bread was delicious, probably because of Vietnam having been a French colony in the past. However, in those early days I learned to first pull apart the bread to remove the bugs. After a few months I learned that bakeries installed flour sifters so no more bugs. I was given the opportunity to choose and define my first project. After interviewjng all the department managers I realized that there was no HR system so i designed and programmed it myself; and there were about 12,000 employees.
Love this video so much! I’m an Indonesian living in Australia for over 20 years, your stories perfectly capture the experiences, challenges, and struggles we go through. So relatable!”
So I don't consider myself an expat as I don't fit into the traditional definition as I still have the citizenship of my birth and I don't match the current use of the word either as I am retired and not working, however I no longer live in my home country, so I see myself as an immigrant. I went through all the adjustment phases of which you spoke and it has been quite a ride. I have lived abroad for more than four years now and I feel that I escaped the US and therefore could never go back to live, I could visit but at this time I don't feel the need. This has been an incredible four years and I'm loving it! I've seen places and met people I would never have had in my life if I hadn't taken the leap. There is so much you can accomplish even when you are old if you're willing to try and see that life is all about change.
When you move to a new country give yourself at least 2 YEARS to adapt. Migrating to a totally strange country is not a small thing and takes time. Don't underestimate this. And one important useful tip BEFORE leaving to your new destination is to make videorecordings of yourself in your country of origin (home country). Blog for yourself on your phone what you don't like about your country and what you're struggling with and what motivates you to leave. Keep it as a diary. This will help you LATER in times of homesickness in your new environment. Then you can look back and see your old you and how you felt in that time and what you were thinking. This can motivate you to STAY where you are and APPRECIATE what you have achieved. Nowhere on earth it is paradise but some countries are better than the other and one of those countries is Indonesia. To emphasize this in my opinion it is better to be poor in Indonesia then to be a rich man in ANY Western country. And if you really feel homesick you can if possible VISIT your country of origin for a couple of weeks and then go back to Indonesia. Then you will be confronted with the truth and appreciate more what Indonesia has to offer. Yes, some things are better in Western countries but IN GENERAL everything balanced out life in Indonesia is superior.
Thank you for all your thoughtful comments. I love your idea of making a video of yourself in your home country and watching it if you ever feel lonely. Do you mind if I use this idea in one of my upcoming videos? I would be happy to give you credit for the idea.
@@KateGypsy you're welcome. Please, no need to mention my name as I prefer to stay anonymous. I am Chocolate Cookie for good reasons. But you could say a subscriber.
The idea behind this digital diary is to remined ourselves what life was like before. We humans are natural to forget things. Then the grass is greener images can pop up in our internal space and mess up our logical thinking. One wise man said: "The grass is greener on the other side. Why? Because there is more shit over there!". And you can read it in both ways. Let this be a reminder for those who live in a new country and have forgotten why they migrated to start with.
Hi Kate, First I want to thank you for being a voice of reason on here for expats and people looking to become expats. The amount of thought and consideration you put into your videos is like a breath of fresh air. My family is looking at moving to Thailand when we are able to. My wife works remotely and they have given her the go ahead, and Thailand has a number of visas we can qualify for. We want to move for a lot of reasons, but primarily because we want a stable life where we don't have to worry about our own neighbors turning against us. We have already had a pretty wide variety of living situations we have transitioned between across the US, from living in some pretty skeevy places, living in an RV in multiple places (not for fun but out of necessity), moving across the country, we have started over many times. Even as my wife has come into her career and has blossomed into a force to be reckoned with in her industry, and despite us making more money than anyone in either of our families ever has, we are still struggling as cost of living rises just to keep us living paycheck to paycheck. We can't move to cheaper areas here because most of them are passing laws against people like us. Even living in safe areas of the US, we still struggle to integrate into communities, as just because we are protected by laws here doesn't mean people like us or want to be around us. It is disheartening to be here be doing "well" by most standards, and just about every aspect of our life is still uncomfortable or threatening. Our quality of life is pretty bad compared to what it should be. I'm fortunate that I got to travel a lot in my youth and have already experienced culture shock and isolation that comes with extended time in another country. It was really jarring back then, I think because of my age at the time, but I learned a lot and I have a different view of the world because of it. We are already grieving for the life we will have to leave behind, the good things and the memories, but we are no stranger to it. I realize a lot of the things I'm grieving are the hopes we had when we moved here that will never happen now. Our transitions through life so far already haven't been easy, and in a way felt like a warm-up for this. Most of our family is already out of our lives, and the places we are nostalgic for have changed so much that many are painful for us to visit (or are unsafe). When we moved into the aforementioned RV we got rid of most of our stuff due to space constraints, and then we had to sell our RV and everything that was a part of our life then went with it, save for each other and our children. All that being said, I'm hoping our move overseas will be our last big move. Constantly having to uproot has taken its toll on us. We feel and hope that Thailand will give us the opportunities we don't have here, the chance to integrate and just breathe easy eventually. It's not going to be easy and no place is perfect, but we are no strangers to change and bureaucracy and have been doing our research for a while now. Wish us luck, and don't be a stranger if you travel to Thailand in the coming years!
Such good food for thought, @KateGypsy! I can relate to many of the emotions from just moving here in the US and trying a new lifestyle. Thank you for this realistic look that is essential for everyone considering moving abroad.
@KateGypsy Hi Kate! Given that you’ve lived in Indonesia for 40 years, I assume you speak Indonesian pretty well? It would be nice to see you upload a video in which you speak bahasa Indonesia 😄
I feel if it was not for my family I would be there in Indonesia now or some country like it. I think about Indo often. And there is one thing I would keep away from and that’s drinking Bintang 🤣
@ a little bit. What ever was in it my body did not like so I kept away from it stuck to coffee or water. And these days I do not drink anything alcoholic at all.
Kate, I must be like you because in each country I moved to I fit in right away and loved most of the food most of the time. My first expat experience was in Saigon. I remember going out to lunch with 3 co-workers for the first time. The bread was delicious, probably because of Vietnam having been a French colony in the past. However, in those early days I learned to first pull apart the bread to remove the bugs. After a few months I learned that bakeries installed flour sifters so no more bugs. I was given the opportunity to choose and define my first project. After interviewjng all the department managers I realized that there was no HR system so i designed and programmed it myself; and there were about 12,000 employees.
Yes, it's easy to fit in when you have an adventurous mindset. We should teach a class in doing that.
Love this video so much! I’m an Indonesian living in Australia for over 20 years, your stories perfectly capture the experiences, challenges, and struggles we go through. So relatable!”
So I don't consider myself an expat as I don't fit into the traditional definition as I still have the citizenship of my birth and I don't match the current use of the word either as I am retired and not working, however I no longer live in my home country, so I see myself as an immigrant. I went through all the adjustment phases of which you spoke and it has been quite a ride. I have lived abroad for more than four years now and I feel that I escaped the US and therefore could never go back to live, I could visit but at this time I don't feel the need. This has been an incredible four years and I'm loving it! I've seen places and met people I would never have had in my life if I hadn't taken the leap. There is so much you can accomplish even when you are old if you're willing to try and see that life is all about change.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I guess I should consider myself an immigrant as well.
@ don’t mind me, I tend to be a bit pedantic sometimes.🤭
When you move to a new country give yourself at least 2 YEARS to adapt. Migrating to a totally strange country is not a small thing and takes time. Don't underestimate this.
And one important useful tip BEFORE leaving to your new destination is to make videorecordings of yourself in your country of origin (home country). Blog for yourself on your phone what you don't like about your country and what you're struggling with and what motivates you to leave. Keep it as a diary. This will help you LATER in times of homesickness in your new environment. Then you can look back and see your old you and how you felt in that time and what you were thinking. This can motivate you to STAY where you are and APPRECIATE what you have achieved. Nowhere on earth it is paradise but some countries are better than the other and one of those countries is Indonesia. To emphasize this in my opinion it is better to be poor in Indonesia then to be a rich man in ANY Western country.
And if you really feel homesick you can if possible VISIT your country of origin for a couple of weeks and then go back to Indonesia. Then you will be confronted with the truth and appreciate more what Indonesia has to offer. Yes, some things are better in Western countries but IN GENERAL everything balanced out life in Indonesia is superior.
Thank you for all your thoughtful comments. I love your idea of making a video of yourself in your home country and watching it if you ever feel lonely. Do you mind if I use this idea in one of my upcoming videos? I would be happy to give you credit for the idea.
@@KateGypsy you're welcome. Please, no need to mention my name as I prefer to stay anonymous. I am Chocolate Cookie for good reasons. But you could say a subscriber.
@@chocolatecookie8571 Thanks. I'll say a subscriber.
The idea behind this digital diary is to remined ourselves what life was like before. We humans are natural to forget things. Then the grass is greener images can pop up in our internal space and mess up our logical thinking.
One wise man said: "The grass is greener on the other side. Why? Because there is more shit over there!". And you can read it in both ways. Let this be a reminder for those who live in a new country and have forgotten why they migrated to start with.
Hi Kate,
First I want to thank you for being a voice of reason on here for expats and people looking to become expats. The amount of thought and consideration you put into your videos is like a breath of fresh air. My family is looking at moving to Thailand when we are able to. My wife works remotely and they have given her the go ahead, and Thailand has a number of visas we can qualify for.
We want to move for a lot of reasons, but primarily because we want a stable life where we don't have to worry about our own neighbors turning against us. We have already had a pretty wide variety of living situations we have transitioned between across the US, from living in some pretty skeevy places, living in an RV in multiple places (not for fun but out of necessity), moving across the country, we have started over many times. Even as my wife has come into her career and has blossomed into a force to be reckoned with in her industry, and despite us making more money than anyone in either of our families ever has, we are still struggling as cost of living rises just to keep us living paycheck to paycheck. We can't move to cheaper areas here because most of them are passing laws against people like us. Even living in safe areas of the US, we still struggle to integrate into communities, as just because we are protected by laws here doesn't mean people like us or want to be around us. It is disheartening to be here be doing "well" by most standards, and just about every aspect of our life is still uncomfortable or threatening. Our quality of life is pretty bad compared to what it should be.
I'm fortunate that I got to travel a lot in my youth and have already experienced culture shock and isolation that comes with extended time in another country. It was really jarring back then, I think because of my age at the time, but I learned a lot and I have a different view of the world because of it. We are already grieving for the life we will have to leave behind, the good things and the memories, but we are no stranger to it. I realize a lot of the things I'm grieving are the hopes we had when we moved here that will never happen now. Our transitions through life so far already haven't been easy, and in a way felt like a warm-up for this. Most of our family is already out of our lives, and the places we are nostalgic for have changed so much that many are painful for us to visit (or are unsafe). When we moved into the aforementioned RV we got rid of most of our stuff due to space constraints, and then we had to sell our RV and everything that was a part of our life then went with it, save for each other and our children. All that being said, I'm hoping our move overseas will be our last big move. Constantly having to uproot has taken its toll on us. We feel and hope that Thailand will give us the opportunities we don't have here, the chance to integrate and just breathe easy eventually. It's not going to be easy and no place is perfect, but we are no strangers to change and bureaucracy and have been doing our research for a while now. Wish us luck, and don't be a stranger if you travel to Thailand in the coming years!
I wish you all the best in life when you move to Thailand. I hope you will be able to settle happily.
It would be nice to see you living as an expat while you talk…..I’d love to watch you shopping and walking through the streets etc…good content 😊
Thanks. I'll do that soon.
I would love to see more of your garden Kate, it looks wonderful. Jen
@@culturalmapping6781 Thanks. I'll include it in future videos.
pengalaman adalah bagian dari kehidupan yang membuat kita jadi kuat. Video keren
Beautiful video Kate a joy to watch.
Such good food for thought, @KateGypsy! I can relate to many of the emotions from just moving here in the US and trying a new lifestyle. Thank you for this realistic look that is essential for everyone considering moving abroad.
Given the way the USA is headed, an exit sounds 👍
Understood!!
The struggle I have is people not being on time , there are many excuses for it. Traffic/ feeling not well , etc
That used to bother me, but not any longer.
👍❤️
@KateGypsy
Hi Kate! Given that you’ve lived in Indonesia for 40 years, I assume you speak Indonesian pretty well? It would be nice to see you upload a video in which you speak bahasa Indonesia 😄
Thanks. Hoping to do that soon.
💕
very good information kate
I feel if it was not for my family I would be there in Indonesia now or some country like it. I think about Indo often. And there is one thing I would keep away from and that’s drinking Bintang 🤣
Did you have a bad experience with Bintang?
@ a little bit. What ever was in it my body did not like so I kept away from it stuck to coffee or water. And these days I do not drink anything alcoholic at all.
I'm Indonesian, I really HATE my own country.
I appreciate your opinion.
Why is it actually called Expat?
The term "expat" comes from "expatriate," which refers to someone who lives outside their home country.