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It’s been almost 5 years since I relocated to the States. I was told before the relocation that it would take about five years until I started to feel a new country as a home. And the word IS accurate. Now I really start to feel it is where I belong.
I have read two reports about expats in the USA. One is a survey report from HSBC* and the other one is from Internations**. Based on the HSBC 2018 report, the US is ranked 23rd out of 31 countries and 47th out of 68 countries in the Internations 2018 report. The measurement methods are different, so the order of the ranking is a bit different between the two, however, both survey shows the US is on the lower side in the ranking.
Here is the list of “good points” and “bad points” to live in the US from perspectives of expats.
A while ago, I heard a story of a woman whose father was alcoholic and mother was suffering from depression. It is understandable even if she complained about how miserable her childhood was but she was saying that she had a perfect childhood to become a person who she was.
To live in a foreign country can be challenging but you can perceive the situation as you like. Just like the woman above, you have a choice to believe that you are in a perfect situation and living in a wonderful world.
However, our brain has been trained to think/perceive one way for many years and it is not easy to change how you think. But it is not impossible to change. It is probably too difficult to change from “I have an awful life” to “I have a wonderful life” but how about from “I have an awful life” to “I have a life”? What would you feel when you tell yourself that "you have a life". I believe that you don't have any negative feeling from the statement. If you can train your brain to think “I have a life”, then you can start to think “I have an OK life” or “I have a life that is not too bad”.
If you can believe that you have an OK life in a host country, ask yourself “what kind of opportunities are there in your host country?”.
Tell me what you perceive your life in your host country!
#livingintheusa #expat #livingabroad #foreignlife #perception #choice #coaching #intercultural #interculturalcandc
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If you are interested in talking about your expat life, concerns, challenges, and opportunities, please book a FREE session from here → https://www.interculturalcandc.com/book-online
I would love to hear your story.
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