Thread: The USA FAQ
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Old 17th October 2008, 05:56 PM
Bevdeforges Bevdeforges is offline
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Originally from usa. Expat in france.
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Tiffani, let me just add a couple of things to your stages of adjustment (which are, I might add, very good information for all).

I did alot of reading before I made my big move over to Europe from the US. Several of the books I read at the time noted that your feelings about your new homeland tend to go in cycles - and one author even claimed that the cycles tend to run about 3 to 6 months, at least at the beginning. I found that to be true for me, in any event.

The first few years in a new culture, it's perfectly normal to feel real happy about being where you are for a while, followed by a bout of "stupid culture - why the heck do people here act so weird all the time?" It gets worse if you're trying to learn a new language or re-learn one you haven't used in a long time because there's a real sense of being shut out of things when you have trouble communicating with the locals.

Sometimes you just have to take the attitude that this, too, shall pass. It usually does. But if it doesn't you need to sit down and figure exactly what the problem really is and then do something about it - sign up for some language lessons, find a club to join so you can meet some people, or maybe consider going back home, at least for a visit to see for yourself if things were really the way you remember them there.
Cheers,
Bev
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