Posts Tagged ‘country’

I have to admit, that very rarely but still it happens that I am scared. Scared of the future – which is probably the most human thing ever. But I think I am even more scared, because it is a future in a foreign country. Don’t get me wrong, I never regreted our decision to move here. But sometimes it still is a little bit scary.

Being so far away from everything and everyone you grew up with and also being so far away from everything just being normal. Even after a year in the US, nearly every day is a little journey on it’s own. Every day you learn something new – even if it’s only a new word. But it is still a lot to take in! I actually sometimes enjoy this type of “scare”! It is a being scared that wakes you up and reminds you that you fulfiled a huge dream and that you were brave enough to try something new! But other times i have those very brief moments were it is a scary type of being scared!

Moving to a new country is hard! It’s exciting, amazing and totally worth the rollercoaster of emotions – but still is scary! Never forget that my future fellow Aliens! But also never forget that you only have one life to live. One life to live your dreams! And being a little scared is a very low price to pay for how amazing this feels!

I have to admit that Flo and I watch way too many german TV shows about people emigrating to foreign countries. Sadly most of them are super naive and think that moving to a new country means that you won’t have to work as much as you did in Germany. That actually makes me so mad. I hope none of you lucky Greencard winners who are about to move to our new home country, thinks that! Because let me tell you that: Moving here means work! And not only work to earn money!

Besides working for a living – which actually is a lot over here, because living is really expensive – you have to work on yourself in so many different ways: You have to work on the language, you have to work on your social skills and you have to work on your attitude! Because moving to a new country does not only mean joy. Don’t get me wrong: I love living here, I love our new life and I don’t regret that step at all. But I had to be brave in so many situations and that normally is so not me!

Sometimes Flo and I feel like little children or maybe people who study at nights after they did their day job. Moving abroad means being a student non-stop. I would say at least for a year! Sometimes it’s nice to learn new stuff, sometimes it’s surprising, but sometimes it’s also hard! But it also is a huge adventure! One you should appreciate! Even if it means a lot of work!

The most prominent thing that comes with living in a foreign country is for sure your accent. When we first moved her it pissed me off a lot that everyone asked us where we were from after we said a single sentence. Even the staff at Starbucks knew we weren’t american after we ordered a damn coffee. It took me some time to get along with this, but after a few weeks I kind of forgot about my accent.

I already told you that the language hasn’t been a real problem for us, but that we still have our moments. I have learned the hard way that the more you think about your accent and the way you talk, the worse it gets. So with time I kind of stopped fighting with myself, just talked and it got so much easier for me. Another side effect is that the more comfortable you get speaking a foreign language, the less people notice that this language is foreign to you.

Noone asked us where we are from just because of our accent in a long time. And today, when we went to a BBQ, a woman we talked to even thought I was american. When I told her I was german she was a little shocked and said that she didnt hear an accent at all!

These little steps are definitely just tiny steps in the right direction, but they make me proud. And the best: They make me feel more comfortable with talking english.