Post Tagged with "expat"

Neha: from Mumbai to Zagreb

Neha is an Indian expat living in Croatia with her husband. I interviewed her a while ago via email. You can visit her blog at Flying Suitcase

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Neha, and I am a freelance writer.

I was born in India, and spent my first few years in Mumbai. When I was four, I moved, with my parents, to Lusaka, Zambia. I still remember bits of that first journey in vivid details. My mother was nervous. I was upset – at having to leave our home and family behind. I remember the food in the plane – it was terrible, but I loved the packaging – I’ve always enjoyed airplane meals. I don’t remember arriving in Lusaka, but I don’t remember the day we left either.

For a long time Lusaka was home. There was a big Indian community and it made things very easy, especially for my parents. We celebrated all national and religious festivals with great pomp. In fact our whole year revolved around preparing of festivities; the desire to assert one’s cultural identity is so strong when you are away from home, it becomes the centre of your existence. It was only when we moved back to India that I realized the frenzy with which we celebrated all things cultural was not always the norm. (more…)

How to Become A Cultural Insider: Remain a Learner

Ron is an American who has been living abroad for over 25 years, currently in Northern India. Ron’s blog, Culture Happens, focuses on helping people to become “cultural insiders”. In Ron’s many experiences living in different cultures, he has observed that although expats moving to another country start out wanting to connect, they often become disillusioned along the way and wind up as “cultural outsiders”. In this interview with Ron, we explore a bit more what a “cultural insider” is, why this distinction is so important and Ron’s advice for those moving to a new culture.

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Libyan summer

KhadijaTeri is an American who has been living in Libya since 1989 with her Libyan husband and their six children.

Her blog, which is also called KhadijaTeri, is about daily life with her family in Tripoli, the capital city of this North African country. Over in Libya the countdown to Ramadan has already started and families are starting to stock up with food and other provisions.

Tripoli’s old city. Credit.

The weather in Tripoli is very hot at this time of year, and KhadijaTeri writes that her children make the most of the cool part of the day by going outside to play between 5:30am and 8am.

I could only give you a taste in this post, but Khadija has been blogging since 2004 so there’s plenty to go at if you want to read more about life in Libya.

Read more:
More North African blogs from Blogs of the World
A Moroccan kitchen
What future for Arabic dialects?

Konichiwa! Kyoto blog with an American accent

Konichiwa! Alive in Kyoto is written from Kyoto, Japan, by Nils Ferry who is originally from California. He’s a Kyotophile and he offers a good insight to Kyoto through his posts and his amazing pictures.

My favourite section is the Japan/Kyoto category for its beautiful photos and/or descriptions of very Japanese elements such as sakura, the Shichi-Go-San ceremony or the Fire Festival.

This is a great blog to do a little bit of research before a trip, but also to enjoy learning about Kyoto from wherever you are, for example, your comfortable armchair.

Read more:
More blogs froom Japan on Blogs of the World
Okinawa, the far South in Japan
Tempura is Japanese… or is it?

A slower pace of life

Sash Milne has achieved something which remains a dream for many – her job as a screenwriter allows her to work from anywhere in the world. She currently lives in Batu Karas, a remote village in Indonesia, and her blog Barefoot Ink is all about slowing down to the pace of life over there, with some travel stories as well.

We asked Sash some questions about life in Indonesia.

How did you end up in Indonesia? And why Batu Karas?

I ended up in Indonesia because I was feeling trapped and a bit uninspired living in a big city in Australia. A friend of mine got a job in Batu Karas and asked me if I’d be interested in moving there with her.

Batu Karas is a tiny village on the south coast of Java – it’s extremely remote; no supermarkets, no shopping, no movie theatres within 8 hours of the village – it sounded perfect. I made my decision quickly and within a few weeks I had packed up my life and boarded a plane to the island. I’d never been to Indonesia before in my life, and it is the best decision I have EVER made!

What’s the biggest difference compared to life in Australia?

The biggest difference in terms of my lifestyle is the speed at which life travels. Life is slow and relaxed in the village whereas in Melbourne life was fast paced and I was forever rushing to get from one event/job/meeting to another. Now, there is nothing to rush for, life goes at a relaxed pace and every day achieving one thing is a massive event – there is little to do so it took a few months to really slow my brain down, but now, I wouldn’t have it any other day. It’s exhausting doing nothing!

Could you describe a typical day?

My typical day starts with a hot cup of tea on the beach around 6.45am accompanied by good conversation and a cigarette with some local friends. Then, depending on the surf we go in the water or I go home to do some work. Around 10 I meet friends for breakfast of eggs or noodles and then it’s time for the beach. In the heat of the afternoon I work (write) under the fan in my bedroom until low tide, which is when I get my longboard and head out into the surf to cap of the end of the day. The evening involves chess, delicious food and bonfires with good friends.

What language do you use to communicate?

We use a combination of Indonesian and English every day. Some of the locals speak very good English (the younger generation) but are very encouraging when you try to speak their language. The villagers communicate with their local language (Sundanese) on a day to day basis – but it is an extremely complicated language and I just can’t seem to get a grasp on it!

Is it difficult to blog from there? Do you have any problems with internet access, electricity…?

It’s not too hard to blog from Batu Karas, I have an internet connection at my home which is very slow, so uploading photos takes some time. It’s all about patience, the electricity goes off often and the internet often struggles – but when you’ve slowed down to a snails pace that’s never much of a worry!

What about the culture and religion?

I love that the village where I live has such a different culture and religion to where I come from. It is something to be celebrated and I feel extremely lucky to have been welcomed so whole heartedly by friends who are very willing to answer any of my questions about their religion, culture and customs so that I can grow to understand what they believe and what it is that is the foundation for their lives.

Intrigued about life in Batu Karas? Check out Sash’s day in pictures, explorations of the surrounding villages or this post on a rare newspaper and a Javanese theatre artist.

All photos in this post courtesy of Sash Milne.

Read more:
Photo tour of West Sumatra, Indonesia
More blogs from Indonesia on Blogs of the World
An Indonesian wedding with a difference

Greetings from The Netherlands!

A Touch Of Dutch is an expat account of living in The Netherlands, maintained by Isabella. She is an American lady and her blog seeks to offer an interesting take on living an expat life and learning a new language.

The blog covers varied topics, particularly the differences in the American and Dutch culture. My favorite post is the one where the supermarkets in Holland are compared extensively to the ones in America. An excerpt from this entry :

“When I first came to the Netherlands, I had the impression that all Dutch supermarkets were 7-Eleven-sized. It was because my then-nearby supermarket was a corner market in Amsterdam, and I never had the time to go anywhere else. Then we relocated to Small Town, NL where I found larger supermarkets. A larger variety which was sufficient-enough to fill my needs, but at the time most still seemed smaller somehow..”

How much smaller? Check out the rest of the post to find out.

Read more:
The Dutch Way: impresssions of The Netherlands
More expat blogs from Blogs of the World
What do you like about your (adopted) country? We want to know!