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| Are you going home? |
| Yes, without a doubt |
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22% |
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| No, not ever |
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25% |
[ 8 ] |
| Maybe, the future is open |
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51% |
[ 16 ] |
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| Total Votes : 31 |
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nomadder
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
Posts: 709
Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere
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 Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Would love to leave and only come back for the odd visit or maybe summer and autumn when I'm older. The climate isn't the greatest for retirement purposes. Now to just get out again. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! |
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Cleopatra
Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago
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| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2003 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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It's amazing how a year or two abroad can make you so objective - hence critical - of your home country.
I'm back home now for a year to do my Masters before going abroad again. I was sitting chatting to a few people in the same situation and they all agreed that they were in a sense sorry that they'd ever gone abroad, because now it means that they'll never be completely happy at home again.
Ignorance is bliss! |
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psychedelic
Joined: 11 Feb 2003
Posts: 167
Location: China
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 9:12 am Post subject: |
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Yes,for sure!  |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 10:14 am Post subject: home ? |
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Home ? Where is that ? If you are at this game for any length of time you become a rootless cosmopiltan. That is not always a positive experience.
I am at home in East Central Scotland in the late 1960's of the Common Era. Can I go back there ?
Nope I have to settle for my adopted country and work it out there. Sometimes tough, but easier than it used to be before modern communications came along.
In our parents' and grandparents' time when you emigrated, usually it was for good. No longer. Maybe it was better then. (cries of "reactionary !" from the aghast readers) |
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James_T_Kirk
Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 357
Location: Ten Forward
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
It's amazing how a year or two abroad can make you so objective - hence critical - of your home country.
I'm back home now for a year to do my Masters before going abroad again. I was sitting chatting to a few people in the same situation and they all agreed that they were in a sense sorry that they'd ever gone abroad, because now it means that they'll never be completely happy at home again.
Ignorance is bliss! |
Cleopatra, this is so true. Living abroad completely changed the way I feel about my country, my opinions on critical issues, my life goals, etc...essentially, it completely changed me as a person. I have been here in the states for 3 1/2 years now, and I can't wait to get the HELL OUT OF HERE, for so many different reasons. Often, I will think about the movie "The Matrix", and how Neo initially felt he would have been better off had he not been rescued from the Matrix...sometimes, this is how I feel. But, what is done is done, so I am just trying to live life to its fullest here in the states until I fulfill some obligations and have an opportunity to pursue my two passions again, teaching and living/traveling abroad. Until then, I will wonder how I got stuck in the Matrix again for over three years now after I had escaped!
Once I leave the states again next summer, I'm not sure if I will return long-term. I have family in Central America, so I can see myself retiring there in the future.
Cheers,
Kirk |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 2:49 am Post subject: |
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| James_T_Kirk wrote: |
| Neo initially felt he would have been better off had he not been rescued from the Matrix...sometimes, this is how I feel. |
That is a great way of putting it. I like the word "rescued" too - very apt  |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 3:28 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I have been here in the states for 3 1/2 years now, and I can't wait to get the HELL OUT OF HERE, for so many different reasons. Often, I will think about the movie "The Matrix", and how Neo initially felt he would have been better off had he not been rescued from the Matrix...sometimes, this is how I feel. |
That's a great analogy. But all this discussion is really making me question this globalization we live in. Maybe it's true that we live in a more interconnected world. But then why all these stories about going back home to Western countries and finding a great majority of people who can't relate to our experiences abroad, and/or folks who haven't traveled much?
If I had lived and traveled abroad before all this globalization started, say in the 80's, I could expect such common reactions from people back home. But now, in this post-Cold War age, you'd think that more folks would have greater global awareness. If our stories about reverse culture shock are true, then things really haven't changed much.
Thoughts on this?
Steve |
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MonkeyKing
Joined: 24 May 2003
Posts: 96
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I am home, at least for the time being.
What I miss is that feeling of waking up as normal but then thinking '....hey, wait a minute, I am actually living on the other side of the world, thousands of miles from home....what the hell am I doing..?....this is so cool!'
Maybe some of you who've been doing this for X amount of years or who grew up having to travel all over will scoff at this, but I still felt like that after three years in EFL.
Back to the grind... |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| When you go back home do you find yourself looking for the negative things about your homeland?Trying to Justify the reasons you don't live there anymore. Or am I alone? |
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FGT
Joined: 14 Sep 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 12:25 am Post subject: |
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I don't go looking for the bad things but YES, isn't it reassuring to find that I have no reason to return!
Lack of job security, prices, lowering of standards (that's directly aimed at BBC and other media), people being egocentric, more consumerism every time etc etc.
If ever I needed a reason not to return, one quick trip back seems to do the trick. I just hope globalisation doesn't do too much damage, and we're part of it! Are we killing the proverbial goose? |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 3:53 am Post subject: fgt |
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As a semi-professional grouch I hate agreeing with anyone, but FGT has it in a nutshell.
I am appalled on my less frequent visits to Her Britannic Majesty's Realm.
On my last trip I vowed never to return. |
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Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 4:49 am Post subject: |
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My feelings on the matter are not as negative as FGT`s or Scott`s, but my trip "home" this past summer confirmed that my real home is in Japan. I didn`t care for the rudeness or shallowness of the general population there. Japan is not perfect in any stretch of the imagination, but for now this is where I`ll stay.
One thing that I was surprised about myself was that I kept searching for a grocery store that carried lots of Japanese imported foods. In Japan, I look for western import stores.  |
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