Foreigner

Here is an interesting sharing of an American in Korea. She is there for an English teaching, and this is part of her story...

Knowing that I am going soon to my company for training reminds me of one of the purposes I came all the way out here. To teach English to the youngins' of Korea. If you know me I am the kind of person who doesn't really like to work...I enjoy the slower paced times of life when the schedule you live by is your own. But obviously you really can't get by with out a job in life. So that is why I decided to have a job but somewhere different and exciting (Korea).more

Culture Shock Phase

According to this blog, perhaps you will pass the three phases in the culture shock:

The Honeymoon Phase

The "Everything is Awful"

The "Everything is OK"
more...

image source: istock photo

Traveled to Taiwan

Perhaps this is the question that you need to ask before you decide moving to other country:

Will the locals speak your language? I'm not trying to scare you, but perhaps they won't.

And after reading this blog, I know that people are different in understanding the differences. Some are willing to adapt, while others just simply give up.

Culture shock is an interesting phenomenon that doesn't affect everyone the same way. Some just can't understand it when the locals don't speak English. Some can't comprehend why there aren't any English signs anywhere to be found. Why are things done that way, and not that way? Why am I even in that situation? It would never happen in my home country. Questions like these can cause people to get stressed out and want to go back to their own countries. People can get frustrated when faced with change. Many people deal with it their own way, head back home. more

A Norwegian in Australia

I find this posting very natural and interesting. I post some for you. So, have a look...

1.Where are you from originally, where are you now and what brought you there?

I am from Hamar in Norway. Right now I’m back Brisbane, Australia where I study journalism. I have just been one semester in London, on exchange from the university here. To study journalism in Australia was an idea from a friend, and I thought why not? Life is all about collecting memories and for me its just a big collection of (positive) accidents.

4.Any practical tips for the new expats out there (like me)?

Be positive! Don’t be afraid to take contact with people. Norwegians are weird like that, we are not welcoming and I understand that people find us hard to approach. The easiest is to get to know people thru a shared activity or class, for instance at university, a dance class, a hobby etc. Then you get a few friends that introduce you to new people and it becomes easier to make some friends. It is hard to make friends without having anything in common. You have probably noticed that Norwegians usually do not talk to strangers on the street. more

Tips Dealing with Culture Shock

The most effective way to combat culture shock is to step back from a given event that has bothered you,
assess it, and search for an appropriate explanation and response. Try the following:

· Observe how others are acting in the same situation

· Describe the situation, what it means to you, and your response to it

· Ask a local resident or someone with extensive experience how they would have handled the situation
and what it means in the host culture

· Plan how you might act in this or similar situations in the future

· Test the new behavior and evaluate how well it works

· Decide how you can apply what you have learned the next time you find yourself in a similar situation .....more

First Three Days in Canberra

• No rice

As Asian people, I always eat rice at least twice a day (lunch and dinner). We never call it as lunch and dinner if we do not eat rice, while here, at the first day, I had no food. My friend asks me to join him going to Canberra Center, but I only can find bread. I thought I am going to die if I have no rice to eat. However, I am glad to find my noodle (Indomie) here.

• No friend

I am staying in Toad Hall B312 and can not find any Indonesian. Lucky me, my neighbors are very nice, an Australian and Indian. The Indian guy tells me several things that I need to know, offers help, and show me the nearest groceries. One day he introduces one of Indonesian girl in my block and suddenly I realize many Indonesian there.

to be continued...

pictures are taken from 3 and 4

Stranger in Russia

A lot of folks know me as Mr. NetBeans - in 1999, I'd been working as a contractor for a bunch of years, had backpacked through Prague and liked it, and found a job ad on monster.com from a tiny little company in the Czech Republic called NetBeans. I'd done some tools work before, had been doing a ton of GUI component development in Delphi, and was looking to do something different. I thought to myself, "I'm never going to hear from these guys," but I sent a resume for the heck of it. Life being stranger than fiction, they hired me. And I found myself working with a fantastic bunch of people with a great product, in a beautiful city. I'd studied Russian in Monterey in college (which I thought would help, and it did, but speaking Russian to people in Prague does not make you popular, as I quickly found out), which helped in learning Czech...

I talk on elevators - Americans have a sort of taboo about talking to strangers on elevators - it's like we're all trapped in this small space, and slightly afraid of each other or something. NetBeans original office in Prague was in an airplane parts factory. Every morning I'd ride the elevator with a bunch of guys going to other offices. And I would get off the elevator on our floor, and there would be a chorus of "Na schledanou" (good bye) from the folks still on the elevator. I didn't know what to make of it, and I asked my ex-girlfriend about it. She said "Well, Tim, they're pointing out that you were rude and didn't say 'Dobrý den' [good day] when you got on!" Light dawns on marble head... Now breaking the habit is the challenge, so I don't weird out people on american elevators!

see the entire article here