Living Abroad

Have many of you spent a prolonged period of time outside your home
country? I'll be spending a year in Germany beginning in August. Does
anyone have any advice?

tcthompson.blogspot.com

On Jul 5, 6:29 am, thompstc <thomp...@> wrote:
> Have many of you spent a prolonged period of time outside your home
> country? I'll be spending a year in Germany beginning in August. Does
> anyone have any advice?
>
> tcthompson.blogspot.com

Use some of the local resources for finding out information. There is
a lot of free information in public libraries and tourists offices
(and tourist offices are usually much better for residents than
visitors). I'm sure that well within a year you will discover what
you really should have taken with you that is unavailable at your
destination. However, in your short time you may be unable to
inexpensively return for a shopping trip. If you don't speak German,
take an accelerated German course.

I hope that you have a pleasant stay, and if you are going to be in
Stuttgart where I now live, you can ask me more detailed questions.

George

On 5/07/07 6:29, in article
1183609765.542812.73500@q75g2000hsh..c om, "thompstc"
<thompstc@> wrote:

> Have many of you spent a prolonged period of time outside your home
> country? I'll be spending a year in Germany beginning in August. Does
> anyone have any advice?
>

Not much advice just some observations on culture shock.

We have been out of the USA for over 30 years, living in France.
So long that we eventually obtained French citizenship while
retaining our American but having no intent of returning to
the USA.

It all probability you will have culture shock for the first
month or two. The first week might be euphoric but then
the culture shock usually sets in. You will not like
some things are done (like store closures in Germany
makes shopping difficult). Then you will adapt
over the months following this initial depression of
having to deal with many things you don't like dealing
with.

Depending on your adaptation to Germany, the culture
and the language, you might find reverse culture shock
occurring returning to your home country. Prior to coming
here we had live in France for one year periods in the mid-1960s
and early 1970s. So we made several comings and returnings.
We personally found the culture shock returning to the USA
worse than coming to France so eventually we opted to
come to France permanently. This meant getting a job here
(I was offered one, so no job search was involved)
and selling our house in California and buying here. So
unlike one year visits in which one usually rents we
began living "real life" in France. That experience
is different than a temporary residence.

The only lesson I perceive is that one can move
to another country having a different language and a
much different culture and adapt to it. In fact,
in adapting one gathers some self-confidence.

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:11:41 +0100, Keith Anderson <keefy@> wrote:

>On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:45:08 +0200, Earl Evleth <evleth@wanadoo.fr>
>wrote:
>
>
>>It all probability you will have culture shock for the first
>>month or two. The first week might be euphoric but then
>>the culture shock usually sets in.
>
>This reflects my experience the first time I worked in Germany.

The cultural shock of moving to somewhere like Katwijk from an exciting
metropolis like Cwmbran New Town in the 1960s, lasted several years. I am not
sure if I will ever get over the way the locals treated alien life forms. Where
else would officials decide, that highly paid foreigners were not to be trusted
to pay for gas water and electricity and on a Friday afternoon turn off all
three services until a large deposit was paid by all the occupants of a block
of flats?
--

Martin

On 5 jul, 10:32, Martin <m...@address.invalid> wrote:
> On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:11:41 +0100, Keith Anderson <k...@> wrote:
> >On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:45:08 +0200, Earl Evleth <evl...@wanadoo.fr>
> >wrote:
>
> >>It all probability you will have culture shock for the first
> >>month or two. The first week might be euphoric but then
> >>the culture shock usually sets in.
>
> >This reflects my experience the first time I worked in Germany.
>
> The cultural shock of moving to somewhere like Katwijk from an exciting
> metropolis like Cwmbran New Town in the 1960s, lasted several years.

Was it the culture shock that lasted several years, or was that the
wait for telephone service to be supplied that lasted several years ?

B;

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 01:35:17 -0700, jeremyrh.geom wrote:

>On 5 jul, 10:32, Martin <m...@address.invalid> wrote:
>> On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:11:41 +0100, Keith Anderson <k...@> wrote:
>> >On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:45:08 +0200, Earl Evleth <evl...@wanadoo.fr>
>> >wrote:
>>
>> >>It all probability you will have culture shock for the first
>> >>month or two. The first week might be euphoric but then
>> >>the culture shock usually sets in.
>>
>> >This reflects my experience the first time I worked in Germany.
>>
>> The cultural shock of moving to somewhere like Katwijk from an exciting
>> metropolis like Cwmbran New Town in the 1960s, lasted several years.
>
>Was it the culture shock that lasted several years,
>or was that the
>wait for telephone service to be supplied that lasted several years ?

I gave up trying and didn't try again until after I had moved from Katwijk and
we had a baby on the way. It took just under nine months to provide a phone
although the line etc. was already there. In California it took about 20 minutes
to get a phone connected.
--

Martin

On 5/07/07 10:41, in article jfbp83dqahi2sf1phsmrpp3tp8670gf4is@,
"Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote:

> I gave up trying and didn't try again until after I had moved from Katwijk and
> we had a baby on the way. It took just under nine months to provide a phone
> although the line etc. was already there. In California it took about 20
> minutes to get a phone connected.


France was terrible and expensive in the 1960s but now, at least in Paris,
it is rapid, a day or two.

My daughter who lived in Frankfurt for a couple of years had trouble
with getting a phone, it took a while. There is some illusion about
the Germans being efficient and hard working.

Am Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:16:16 +0200 schrieb Earl Evleth:

> My daughter who lived in Frankfurt for a couple of years had trouble
> with getting a phone, it took a while. There is some illusion about
> the Germans being efficient and hard working.

The German Telecom is not really a good example for efficiancy :-)

They used to be state-owned an run and it still shows (same as the railway
over here).

Regards,

Frank

On Thu, 5 Jul 2007 11:21:33 +0200, Frank Hucklenbroich <Hucklenbroich01@>
wrote:

>Am Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:16:16 +0200 schrieb Earl Evleth:
>
>> My daughter who lived in Frankfurt for a couple of years had trouble
>> with getting a phone, it took a while. There is some illusion about
>> the Germans being efficient and hard working.
>
>The German Telecom is not really a good example for efficiancy :-)
>
>They used to be state-owned an run and it still shows (same as the railway
>over here).

I saw somebody post that DB were bidding for one of the UK train franchises. If
it's true, how can a subsidised state owned loss making railway company do this?
--

Martin

On 5 jul, 11:35, B Vaughan<m...@> wrote:
> On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:11:41 +0100, Keith Anderson <k...@>
> wrote:
>
> >If you live in a city, it might be a bit of a hike but you'll always
> >find somewhere for those essentials you forgot - like a carton of milk
> >or that magnum of champagne.
>
> When I lived in Rotterdam, I used to sometimes go on a Sunday to a
> little grocery inside a superhighway service station. Since I didn't
> have a car, it really was a bit of an adventure crossing several lanes
> of fast-moving traffic to get there.
>
> >> Then you will adapt
> >>over the months following this initial depression of
> >>having to deal with many things you don't like dealing
> >>with.
>
> >Very character building - but I agree - it can be tough.
>
> I used to say that after 2 months, I thought I understood Dutch
> culture. After 4 months, I realized there were some things I didn't
> really understand. After 6 months I thought I would never understand
> Dutch culture.
>
> However, I can't really say I found it depressing.

Might have been a bit depressing if you had been unable to earn money
to buy food owing to Dutch bureaucrats refusing to accept your papers.

B;