essay moving abroad

Essays About Moving to a New Country: Top 5 Examples

Being in a new country comes with both disadvantages and opportunities to thrive. If you are writing essays about moving to a new country, check out our guide.

Most of us can say that we have moved homes at least once before; if this is daunting on its own, what more a completely different country? People often move to have better opportunities for a job or a lower cost of living, but moving to a new country gives us a chance to thrive beyond that. A life-changing experience also presents us with many challenges, some quick to face and others that take months or even years to overcome. 

The experience of moving to a new country is only what you make of it. You can learn so much from such a dramatic lifestyle change, but only if you embrace it and make the most of it. This is not to say you shouldn’t feel stress, sadness, or confusion with the change, but change is constant in life and should not be shunned. Take advantage of the opportunity and thrive.

5 Top Essay Examples

1. moving to a new country essay by rosh, 2. what nobody will tell you about moving to a new country by zulie rane, 3. getting adjusted after moving to a new country by laura mueller, 4. how to cope with stress when moving abroad by josh jackman, 5. when moving to a new country please don’t do this by iva ursano, 1. why move to a new country, 2. where would you move, and why, 3. advantages and disadvantages of moving to a new country, 4. my experience moving to another country, 5. migration and immigration today, 6. lessons a new country can teach you.

“It goes without saying that moving to a new place is a thrilling adventure. The endless list of foods that you have never tasted before, visiting places that you have always seen on the television screen, smells and sounds that have captured your imagination and experiencing the cultures and traditions that are outright different from yours is something that no one wants to miss.”

In this essay, Rosh lists why one might want to move to a new country. These include professional growth, a new adventure, and making new friends. Moving can be a great new experience that can teach you a lot while being exciting at the same time. Rosh also describes a few problems to consider when moving to another country, such as the language barrier and financial issues. 

Looking for more? Check out these essays about moving to a new place .

“I wish I’d had a little more perspective back then. I wish I’d been a little better at detangling what I liked and what I didn’t like, and what the root cause was. I wish I’d been less caught up in the idea of myself as a worldly traveler, and a little more honest about what I aimed for in life. I wish I’d believed I could have stayed and made a difference about the things I cared about, instead of fleeing east.”

Rane discusses how she left Georgia, U.S.A., for the U.K. and why she regrets it. She was at odds with the slow pace of life, her peers’ political views, and her high school experience, so she decided to apply for college abroad. However, reflecting on it now, she is homesick and regrets her decision. She laments how moving is idealized without showing the negative aspects of such a change. 

“Think about the things that you’d like to achieve after moving to a new country, be it becoming fluent in the language, finding a job, finding a group of friends, etc. Then take active steps to achieve it. Working toward distinct goals will give your day’s purpose at a time when everything may seem so up in the air, and the goals themselves will help you become more a part of your surrounding community.”

In her essay, Mueller writes about several tips that can help you get used to a new country, such as learning a bit of the language and culture, going out to explore, and adjusting your routine to one more standard for the country you are in. Most importantly, she suggests setting new goals for your new country, so you have something to focus on. Mueller also stresses the importance of staying connected with your loved ones back home. Check out these essays about home .

“If moving abroad is all you think about for most of the next year, it will take your joy and your sanity – so take a break every so often. When you feel like you’re underwater, clear your thoughts, take a deep breath or five, and give yourself a moment to be silent. Then consider doing something else for a while, before you tackle the next moving issue.”

Similarly to Mueller, Jackman lists down several ways to adjust to the stress that comes with moving to a new country, such as selling some of your unnecessary belongings and listing what you are excited about. He also discusses the importance of self-care, saying it’s fine to take a break and relax, even taking time off work if necessary. You might also be interested in these articles about immigration .

“It was horrible. Downright pathetic. I showed up as an entitled North American not realizing that I’m the stranger here now. I’m the visitor. I’m the guest. If I didn’t like it, any of it, I could move. No one forced me to live here. Actually, no one even invited me or asked me to move here. Not a soul. I did this on my own.”

Ursano reflects on how she was when she moved to Guatemala, fresh from Canada. Having moved from a first-world country to a third-world country, she was, at first, incredibly entitled. She constantly complained about the internet service, language barrier, and “dirty” city. She explains that when you move to a different place, it can take a while to get used to it. But now, she loves Guatemala and never wants to leave. 

6 Prompts To Help You Begin Writing On Essays About Moving To A New Country

People move to other countries for many reasons, whether financial, social, political, or otherwise. In your essay, research the most common causes of moving to another country. Cite surveys, statistics, and research to support your claims, and be sure to explain your points adequately. 

Think of a country you would want to move to and consider the advantages and disadvantages. Then, for your essay, briefly describe your chosen country and explain what makes it so appealing to you. Then, describe some aspects of the country that make you want to move there, such as culture, economic opportunity, and laws. 

As stated previously, moving has its advantages and disadvantages. First, think of the different obstacles and opportunities moving to a new country may pose and discuss each one in your essay. Then, conclude whether you would personally want to move to a new country; consider whether it would be worth it or not. 

Looking for more? Check out these essays about personal growth .

If you have moved to another country before, reflect on this time and write about it in your essay. Describe why you or your family decided to move, how you initially felt moving and how your feelings changed over time. Also, explain how this big step in life has helped make you who you are today.

In an increasingly connected world, more and more people are leaving their countries to move to new ones. Research this phenomenon and discuss its causes and implications for the countries involved. You can also discuss statistics related to this, such as the nations where most people flee or go to. Lastly, discuss your feelings on this matter and how you would like to see this resolved: do you think more should be done so that people don’t feel the need to leave their countries? Answer this question in your essay.

Moving can give you a whole new outlook on life and can teach you a lot. Based on personal experience and research, decide on some lessons and life skills that moving to a new country can give you, including independence, tolerance, and an understanding of a new culture. Then, describe how each of these can make you a better person. 

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.If you’re still stuck, check out our general resource of essay writing topics .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

View all posts

• Jobs Abroad

The Pros & Cons of Moving to a New Country

Amanda is an undergraduate student studying economics and journalism at Colorado State University...

• button]:border-none [&>button]:bg-white [&>button]:hover:cursor-pointer [&>button]:hover:text-cyan-400"> button]:hover:text-cyan-400 [&>button]:bg-white hover:cursor-pointer" height="1em" width="1em" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">

How to move to another country

It’s official. You’ve finally summoned up the courage to pack your bags, submitted your two weeks notice, and broke the news to your friends and family that you’re peacing out and moving to a foreign country. But, before you officially step onto that plane, there are a few important things you should consider before moving abroad .

Below is a list of the most important pros and cons of moving to a new country that you should definitely review before even considering a move abroad:

Moving abroad to Barcelona, Spain will give you an endless city and culture to explore.

The Pros of Moving to Another Country

Although you may have already generated a list of general “pros” in your head, here’s a list that will sum up all of the benefits of moving abroad:

1. Travel Opportunities

The concept of “travel” could range from merely exploring your own neighborhood to venturing beyond and embarking on an adventure to a neighboring country.

[ GoAbroad is Hiring NOW—See Open Positions & Work Abroad in the Philippines ]

One of the greatest perks of moving to a foreign country is the abundance of new cities and areas just waiting to be explored (in fact, here are 5 jobs that will PAY you to travel !). Depending on where you move abroad, the ability to travel around – and outside – of that country may vary from a short train ride to a couple hours airtime. Even for less exotic local exploration, there will always be that one Mom and Pop shop you haven’t been into yet or that hole-in-the-wall restaurant that you’ve been just dying to try.

No matter what, you’ll never find yourself in that monotonous routine— which may have been the deciding factor in your choice to move abroad in the first place. It’s time to get off the hamster wheel and open yourself up to all of the new opportunities and experiences that come hand-in-hand with travel .

Get to know la dolce vita living in Italy for a year.

2. Expansion of Knowledge

With travel comes the power of knowledge and learning. You can constantly learn about different cultures, languages, and histories as you travel to new cities and countries.

Wherever you decide to travel and move to, the amount of knowledge and real-world experience you’ll gain is priceless. Museums, books, classes, tours, etc., all become your teachers, but knowledge is also gained through merely taking a walk to the nearest grocery store and engaging in meaningful conversation with a local. These types of experiences are something that can’t be learned by reading a book, or even by searching online.

One of the greatest ways to learn is “by doing.” After moving abroad, you may encounter individuals and situations that you’re not used to, or have never experienced, but each will enable you to intellectually grow and mature in intangible ways.

[Keep Reading: 7 Jobs Abroad That Will Kick You Career Into Gear ]

3. personal growth.

When you move to a new country, you’ll be thrown into brand new situations and settings that may seem intimidating and scary at first, but are always the best ways to grow as an individual.

It’s a given that you’ll experience immense personal growth both emotionally – and physically – while living abroad (can’t deny that all the new cultural cuisines you’ll be eating won’t add a little extra somethin’!). The emotional growth you’ll experience is something that you may have been lacking in your current living situation; if you think about it, you’ve probably experienced and explored everything there is to do and you’ve met almost everyone around. Where’s the fun in that?

Japan is just waiting for you to move abroad and explore all the wonders of this country and culture.

4. New Relationships

Anyone moving to a foreign country will expand their social circle, friendships, and relationships tremendously. You never know who you’ll meet abroad.

You will be new to the city and neighborhood, surrounded by a sea of new faces, and have no idea how to navigate around. Of course introducing yourself – a new, friendly face – and striking up conversation with strangers is one of the easiest strategies for quickly adjusting to your newfound home. As time goes on, you’ll eventually find yourself developing friendships and relationships that’ll make it hard to believe you were living all those years before without that specific person or group of people.

Moving abroad also means you’ll be expanding your career network . In addition to creating personal friendships, you’ll also make professional connections in your workplace, internship, or volunteer organization. These coveted international connections will be that key to future career success!

[First time working abroad? Download our FREE eBook for even more tips & tales from workers abroad]

The Cons of Moving to a New Country

With every decision, comes a potential downside — especially a decision as life-changing as moving to a new country. Hopefully, this list of pros and cons of moving abroad will help you equally assess both sides before making a final decision.

1. Culture Shock

Culture shock may be triggered by anything, but the usual culprits are the differences in living situations, food, transportation, and social mannerisms.

When you first arrive in the new country, the culture shock you experience may cause great waves of homesickness and a lot of thoughts like: “What I wouldn’t give for my Wednesday night Chipotle and Game of Thrones ritual.” Initially, you’ll feel really overwhelmed and frustrated – the good news is that this culture shock is only temporary. Try your best to adjust by keeping an open mind and heart when you find yourself in situations that seem “bizarre” to you.

The best way to adjust to the shock as quickly as possible is to physically go out and immerse yourself in the culture as much as possible; even if this means trying new foods like chicken feet! The more you expose yourself, the more you’ll start to gather routine and familiarity. Don’t just hide out and hermit in your apartment! If you’re going to be living in a foreign country, you gotta, well, LIVE .

[Keep Reading: The Secrets to Coping with Culture Shock ]

Moving abroad to London opens up the whole Continent for further exploration.

2. Language Barrier

Branching from culture shock are language barriers — Parlez-vous Francais? ¿Hablas español? 你会说中文吗? The best way to break down this barrier is to simply learn the native language.

If you’re moving to a new country that has a native language different than your mother tongue, you’re bound to experience communication barriers. So, y ou should consider taking language classes before, and especially after, moving to a foreign country. Although learning a language may not be as easy as it was when you were eight-years-old, it’s not impossible. With determination and practice, you’ll be fluently communicating with locals in no time.

For those stubborn enough to not learn the language formally, you can still get by without ripping your hair out. We recommend a combination of charades, speaking slowly, smiling, and patience.

[ Find Language Courses in Your Destination of Choice ]

3. finances.

It’s essential to save up for your move abroad months in advance and b race yourself to adjust to a different type of currency – we recommend mastering those exchange rates ASAP.

Balancing a budget is already hard enough, but balancing your finances and expenses before and after moving to a foreign country is the ultimate challenge, especially when you first arrive. We understand the excitement and thrill that greets you after stepping off the plane may cause you to impulse-buy everything you can get your hands on, but really, how many mini keychains that say “ Italia ” do you really need?

While you’re living in a foreign country, it may take you a few weeks, or even months, to land a job and steady income, so make sure to have a couple of months worth of money stored up in your reserves. Or, you could always find a job abroad BEFORE you make the big move.

If culture shock is holding you back from making the move abroad, a Western country like Australia might be that happy medium.

4. “New kid” Syndrome

When moving to a new country, you may feel as if you’re the “new kid” all over again for the first week or two upon arriving to your new home. This is completely normal.

Think back to a time when you hesitantly walked into a classroom full of unfamiliar faces — a teacher you’ve never seen before may be writing “Algebra” (basically a foreign language) on the board and a group of kids may be throwing around inside jokes and slang that you don’t recognize. This is a situation that we have all been through before, but it remains intimidating and overwhelming at the same time.

No one will open the door to their new home abroad and be instantly greeted by lifelong friends and family. The best way to overcome this feeling is to take a deep breath and focus on why you decided to move abroad in the first place. Oh, and patience.

Decision Time: Are You Ready to Move Abroad?

Moving to a new country isn’t exactly the same as moving down the street. This type of change requires prior planning and a ton of research. Picking up your life and moving abroad can expose you to experiences and opportunities that would never have been achievable if you stayed put. Although this type of change will be the adventure of a lifetime, you should conduct in-depth research about how to move abroad, the country, and city you want to settle down in .

Here are our top picks to get you abroad ASAP:

• Join Asia Internship Programme in, you guessed it...Asia!
• Get an International Ski Camp Job through Viamonde
• Choose from a Variety of Job Opportunities Abroad from InterExchange
• Become an Intern in one of 11 Global Cities with The Intern Group

Before you 100 percent decide where to move abroad, you should consider ALL the volunteer , internship , and job opportunities that are available — it’s always great to expand your horizons! But, once you're read, go for it! D ive into new waters and move abroad, and explore new cultures, languages, and lifestyles while you're at it. 

Find Thousands of Opportunities to Move Abroad on GoAbroad Now

Related articles.

By Julie Ball | 10 hours ago

By GoAbroad 2019 Official Report | 10 hours ago

By Munira Maricar | 11 hours ago

By Petrina Darrah | 11 hours ago

Popular Searches

Recommended programs.

2570 reviews

International TEFL Academy

1107 reviews

Premier TEFL

INTERNeX Pacific

166 reviews

London College of Teachers and Trainers

Top Jobs Abroad Providers

Popular opportunities to check out

Work & Explore Asia, We’ve Got You Covered with Luma Health

The easy way to work & travel. use promo goabroad to get 100$/€/£ off, test classroom theories in the "real world" with instituto hemingway, search + apply for tefl internships & our 100s of jobs online & abroad, get tefl certified & explore the world as a paid english teacher, for travelers, travel resources, for partners.

© Copyright 1998 - 2024 GoAbroad.com ®

• Study Abroad
• Volunteer Abroad
• Intern Abroad
• Teach Abroad
• TEFL Courses
• Degrees Abroad
• High School Abroad
• Language Schools
• Adventure Travel
• Online Study Abroad
• Online Volunteer Programs
• Online Internships
• Online Language Courses
• Online Teaching Jobs
• Online Jobs
• Online TEFL Courses
• Online Degree Programs

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

How Living Abroad Helps You Develop a Clearer Sense of Self

• Otilia Obodaru,
• Jackson G. Lu,
• William Maddux,
• Adam D. Galinsky

Research finds it’s driven by how long you’ve lived abroad, not where.

In today’s increasingly globalized world, more and more people are choosing to live, work and study abroad — and this trend appears to be a good thing: Social science studies have shown that international experiences can enhance creativity, reduce intergroup bias, and promote career success. Researchers set out to examine whether and how international experiences can transform a person’s sense of self. Specifically, they focused on “self-concept clarity,” the extent to which someone’s understanding of himself or herself is “clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable” — a trait that has been linked to increased well-being and job performance. In six studies with 1,874 participants, they found that living abroad leads to greater self-concept clarity — which can lead to clearer career decisions — and what matters is depth rather than breadth of living abroad experiences.

In today’s increasingly globalized world, more and more people are choosing to live, work and study abroad —and this trend appears to be a good thing: social science studies have shown that international experiences can enhance creativity , reduce intergroup bias , and promote career success .

• HA Hajo Adam is an assistant professor of management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.
• OO Otilia Obodaru is an assistant professor of management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.
• JL Jackson G. Lu is an assistant professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
• WM William Maddux is a professor of organizational behavior at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Adam D. Galinsky is the chair of the Management Division at the Columbia Business School. He co-authored the critically acclaimed and best-selling book,  Friend & Foe  (Penguin Random House, 2015), and delivered a popular TED talk,  How to Speak Up for Yourself .

Partner Center

Advantages and disavantages of moving abroad. Discuss both and give ur opinion?

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Writing9 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Fully explain your ideas

To get an excellent score in the IELTS Task 2 writing section, one of the easiest and most effective tips is structuring your writing in the most solid format. A great argument essay structure may be divided to four paragraphs, in which comprises of four sentences (excluding the conclusion paragraph, which comprises of three sentences).

For we to consider an essay structure a great one, it should be looking like this:

• Paragraph 1 - Introduction
• Sentence 1 - Background statement
• Sentence 2 - Detailed background statement
• Sentence 3 - Thesis
• Sentence 4 - Outline sentence
• Paragraph 2 - First supporting paragraph
• Sentence 1 - Topic sentence
• Sentence 2 - Example
• Sentence 3 - Discussion
• Sentence 4 - Conclusion
• Paragraph 3 - Second supporting paragraph
• Paragraph 4 - Conclusion
• Sentence 1 - Summary
• Sentence 2 - Restatement of thesis
• Sentence 3 - Prediction or recommendation

Our recommended essay structure above comprises of fifteen (15) sentences, which will make your essay approximately 250 to 275 words.

Discover more tips in The Ultimate Guide to Get a Target Band Score of 7+ » — a book that's free for 🚀 Premium users.

• Check your IELTS essay »
• Find essays with the same topic
• View collections of IELTS Writing Samples
• Show IELTS Writing Task 2 Topics

Some people believe teenagers should concentrate on all subjects, even ones they do not enjoy. Others, however, believe that teenagers should only focus on the subjects they are bast at or find most interesting. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

In many societies, elderly people often live in retirement homes. this is not appropriate because families should always care for their aging members. do you agree, many young people regularly change their job over the years. what are the reasons for this. do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, an increasing number of developing countries are expanding their tourist industry. why do you think it is the case do you think it is a positive or negative development, a 14-year-old young who seriously damaged school was made to clean streets as a punishment. do you think young criminals should be sent to prison or there are alternative forms of punishment give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience..

6 Reasons Why Moving Abroad is Such a Valuable Experience

Moving Abroad, Starting a New Life in a New Country…

Have you ever thought about it?

I’ve moved abroad several times and lived in a wide range of countries. From the Maldives to Greece and from California to Scotland. I’ve called these and several other countries home.

My experiences moving to another country have helped me grow as a person and taught me a lot about the world. And that’s what I want to share in this article.

“Leaving”  is a magical word

I love it and I hate it at the same time. I hate leaving my (new) friends and knowing that there will be things from every city, village or island I once called home I’ll miss forever.

But I love leaving as well. It signifies a fresh start, a departure from the old and the beginning of something new: a challenge, an adventure, the unknown.

Starting over is about opening your eyes again. New experiences are the reason we live. While we enjoy comfort, we crave experiences.

But what is so great about moving abroad?

Of course, moving abroad comes with certain challenges. But the experience of living abroad, of starting a life in a new country has been a rewarding one for me, every single time.

Why Moving Abroad is a Valuable Experience

1. Moving Abroad Takes You out of Your Comfort Zone

The moment you arrive at your destination your new life starts. Your life abroad, in a place you have never been to before, with a culture that is often completely different from your own.

Everything here is new to you. From the streets you walk on to the food they eat here. You get to experience everything for the first time.

It sounds like an exciting new adventure! But, unlike the tourists you’ll probably see around you, you are charged with errands and chores now and unlike the locals, you have no idea how to accomplish anything on your to-do list.

You’ll have to figure it all out, over time. And although at times it will feel overwhelming and you will feel hopelessly lost, after a few weeks you’ll look back and be amazed at how much you have achieved, how much of a life you have already created for yourself.

Starting a new life abroad has taken you out of your comfort zone and challenged you to make the most of it and, without realizing it, has shown you what you are capable of doing.

2. Starting a New Life Abroad Is Great for Your Social Skills

You’ve just moved abroad, so you’ll now have to meet people to make your stay more enjoyable.

I’ll be the first to admit that that was, at least for the first few times I moved abroad, the thing that worried me the most: how will I meet people? But trust me on this, it’s much easier than you think!

Locals in general are quite curious about ‘the new kid in town’ and expats have all been in your situation and are therefore normally very willing to help you get settled into your new life abroad.

And yes, you probably will feel lonely at some point. When the new wears off or when it takes you a bit longer than you hoped to make new friends. But that’s all part of the experience and will make you a stronger, more independent person in the end.

3. Moving Abroad Teaches You to Question the Status Quo

There is almost nothing you’ve learned that is incontestable — everything from table manners to hygiene is culturally relative.

Every culture has its clear distinctions on what is acceptable and what’s not. However, to the outsider coming in, who brings with him a set of different, but still clearly marked, cultural “dos and don’ts”, it can cause quite the clash of viewpoints.

From getting used to eating with my hands in India to trying to understand and respect why many men in the Maldives want their wives and daughters to wear a headscarf. Living surrounded by so many different cultures and making friends in all those countries has truly broadened my horizon and has made me question my beliefs.

Working and living abroad gives you the opportunity to look at life through someone else’s eyes and that is priceless .

4. You’ll Learn Material Possessions Do Not Equal Happiness

You don’t have to start a new life in a new country to realize this of course. But, there is something about the experience of moving abroad with just a suitcase and starting a new life that will really show you it’s not about what you own in life but what you do with your life.

I cherish pictures and little gifts from friends but I’ve learned that owning an expensive TV or a fancy coat won’t make me as happy as experiencing a new country, tasting its food and talking to its people.

The unique experiences you’ll have while living abroad will stay with you forever and enrich your life.

5. Anything Seems Possible

Starting a new life abroad shows you what you are really capable of doing . It shows you how strong you are and how you can overcome pretty much anything.

You are free now. Free to start over again, free to stay or free to go home with an amazing story to tell.

Also Read: My Experiences Moving to San Diego, California

6. Moving Abroad Truly Changes You

You have experienced a new culture, a new way of life and you have built a life for yourself. 

Believe me, it won’t be a perfect life, as no life is, and as any other life it will have its ups and downs but you did it and you’ll notice that you have changed, grown, experienced so many new things and learnt quite a bit about yourself along the way.

Living abroad changes you, for the better!

And if you still have doubts about whether moving abroad is for you just keep this in mind: you can always move back!

Many people I met living and working abroad eventually decided to move back. But none of them regret moving abroad and all of them will tell you their experience living abroad was an experience that enriched their lives.

So, is moving to live in another country a good idea? Absolutely!

“And suddenly you just know… It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings” – Meister Eckhart

If You Are Interested in Moving Abroad, Also Read:

• Finding a Job Abroad & Making It Work
• 5 Reasons to Move to Another Country
• Important Things to Consider Before Moving Abroad
• How to Work Remotely From Anywhere in the World
• 5 Types of Expats You Will Meet When Living and Working Abroad
• Why Moving to a New Place Alone is a Great Experience
• Moving Country All the Time – What It’s Really Like
• Living and Working Abroad: What You Thought vs What It’s Really Like

Or check out my Ask an Expat Series in which I interview expats living in different places all over the world.

6 thoughts on “6 Reasons Why Moving Abroad is Such a Valuable Experience”

Studying abroad shows employers that you can adapt quickly to changing situations and that you are a good problem solver. It also gives you a better understanding of different cultures, which is highly valued in the workplace – particularly in international companies.

Truly support your bold move! Just wondering hows your move to Spain? any experience to share?

Thanks! 🙂 I really enjoy life in Spain. I think it has a good quality of life and the growing international community in most parts of the country makes the move easier. You have to be able to deal with some bureaucracy (which I still struggle with at times), a slower pace of life and, if you don’t speak the language, the language barrier, but overall most people who move abroad and choose Spain are pretty happy here.

This article is quite helpful (even if you are not moving from the US): https://www.spendlifetraveling.com/moving-to-spain-from-the-us/

And in the ‘Ask an Expat’ series you will find various interviews with people moving to different parts of Spain: https://www.spendlifetraveling.com/category/ask-an-expat/

Hi Aly, That’s great! It will be an adjustment but I am sure you will love the experience of moving abroad! And Spain is definitely a great country to move to!

As far as tips: be practical. That cute pair of shoes you only wear twice a year, you really don’t need that! Keep only things that you will use frequently and are suitable in different situations. You will probably walk more in Spain than in Florida so keep that in mind, and they don’t use air conditioning much in Spain so in most parts of the country it does get very hot in summer! Their heating in winter isn’t great either so be prepared for a few cold months.

Other than that just keep an open mind. Expect the unexpected. Spain is not the most efficient country so expect things to take longer than you anticipated. Expect to get frustrated from time to time. And for me, and most people I know who have moved abroad, the experience comes with ups and downs. You will go from feeling excited, to feeling frustrated, to doubting why you ever made the decision to move abroad, to loving it again… It’s all part of the experience and it’s what makes it so valuable! 🙂

Also, join some of the “expats in Spain” groups on Facebook. They are a great way to meet people and get help with any questions you might have about moving to and living in Spain.

Thanks for the advice! I’m excited to move abroad and looking forward to new adventures. Aly

Hi, I am planning to move in 2019 from Florida to Spain to start a new life by myself and emerge myself in other cultures. I am in the process of becoming a minimalist to purge my possessions before my move. Any tips or advice? By the way, I will be 50 by the time I move, so I’m not a spring chicken. LOL

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Contact: [email protected]

Created by Mar y San Design

• EssayBasics.com
• Pay For Essay
• Write My Essay
• Homework Writing Help
• Essay Editing Service
• Thesis Writing Help
• Write My College Essay
• Do My Essay
• Term Paper Writing Service
• Coursework Writing Service
• Write My Research Paper
• Assignment Writing Help
• Essay Writing Help
• Call Now! (USA) Login Order now
• EssayBasics.com Call Now! (USA) Order now
• Writing Guides

Moving From One Country To Another (Essay Sample)

Moving to a new country.

It is always an adventurous and fun experience to explore and discover new places. Not only is it informative but also provide an individual with the chance to learn about the ways of life in other places too. Moving to another country however, offers a new dimension. People move to a new country for various reasons. It might be political, career, or simply for the sake of discovery. People flee wars or go for greener pastures in new countries. While it might be for all the possible reasons, moving to another country might come about with mixed results, while it also calls for a lot of things to be considered.

Moving to another country calls for some great degree of psychological preparation. This is especially the case when the move is pre-planned. In the unplanned moves, such as in the case of war, one might not have the chance to even prepare, since it happens so abruptly and the change is mandatory. It is never easy for anyone to just change the environment one has been used to for a long time. Well, it is human nature to dislike change, especially the sudden ones. As a result, moving to a new country means inviting new culture, lifestyle, and generally, starting one’s life afresh in a new environment.

There would be a high likelihood that one can suffer culture shock in the destination country, since some things would be automatically and obviously different to the home country. Some psychological preparation is key. Culture shock can be caused by anything and everything, the foods there might be different, the nature of sports, dressing as well as forms of entertainment. They might be quite contrasting to the ones back home. Loneliness might also ensue, since it would mean leaving all the friends and family back home, to venture into new territory where one might not know anyone. Depending on one’s personality, making friends is a process and might therefore take quite some time. One therefore needs some conditioning.

To do this, for example, one has to do some background research on the destination country. Tis is through reading or watching various features about the country, so as to acquire some knowledge or information about it. It helps one to have at least some preview about how the nation runs, and how its people relate. Having such a preview is key in ensuring that one at least has a head start once he lands in the country. It saves a great deal when it comes to also knowing the do’s and don’ts in the new country. Although guides might be there, having a little prior information is good. With the new environment however, one learns how to be resilient, slowly by slowly, one finds some nice or interesting spots to hang out. The new country starts being homely. Not before long, one settles and life becomes quite enjoyable.

In conclusion, moving to another country is quite an experience. People move in search of greener pastures, for the sake of adventure, or as a result of fleeing political unrest in their home countries. Moving to a new country offers its own set of goods as well as disadvantages. The advantages are economic or career progress and safety. As a low down, it offers loneliness and culture shock to the visitor. One needs to be prepared prior to moving to a new country, since it helps reduce the impact of the low downs. All in all, there will always be beautiful lessons that one can learn from moving to new countries. Lessons that can only be learnt through experience.

A Huge Change: My Experience of Moving to Another Country

Moving to a new country every two years

Moving to another country is a thrilling and life-changing experience!

It opens up a whole new world of opportunities, challenges, and personal growth.

It is an often discussed topic at social events; have you ever lived in a different country? and what was your experience like? 

I can honestly say that moving to another country (my first one China ) was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. 

In this article, I will share my experience of moving to different places and countries , the ups and downs, an unexpected con, the lessons learned, and how it has shaped me into the person I am today .

This will help you to know what to expect and perhaps get you even more excited to take the big step. 🙂

So, if you’re considering taking the leap into a new adventure, buckle up and get ready!

My Experience Of Moving To Another Country: Why I decided to move 

Moving to another country is a huge decision that can bring about countless opportunities and experiences. In all honestly I didn’t have to think long about this decision.

My wife and I agreed within a few seconds that this is what we want; to experience the adventure of living in another country.

But still is was a culmination of personal motivations and aspirations.

In this introduction, I will outline the reasons why I have chosen to embark on this incredible journey and seek a new life in a foreign country.

Firstly , one of the main reasons for myself behind my decision to move to another country is the pursuit of a different life. My life wasn’t bad or anything, not at all, I just wanted something different.

Moving to another country was something I had always dreamed of, and there were several main reasons why I wanted to embark on this adventure.

Secondly , the chance to move abroad was truly once in a lifetime. It was an opportunity that I knew I couldn’t let go by. It was a way to challenge myself and grow as an individual.

As they say, yolo! (do people still say that?) but you do only live once, and I wanted to make the most of every moment by exploring a new world. 

Lastly , I wanted to immerse myself in different cultures. I wanted to learn from diverse perspectives, understand different ways of life, and appreciate the beauty of cultural differences.

It was an incredible opportunity to not only expand my knowledge but also foster a deeper sense of empathy and understanding for others.

Living abroad was my dream and an irresistible pull towards a life filled with endless possibilities. It was a chance to live life to the fullest and create memories I could never in my home country. 

Reasons to relocate in short

• Just wanting a different life
• A once in a lifetime chance
• Yolo! You only live once!
• Experiencing new cultures

"From 13 years old I've been interested in making electronic music. From 18 years old I was a DJ until now basically which is almost 20 years! One of the main reasons I wanted to become a DJ was because it was the perfect combination of working with music and traveling. Fast forward, years later after 500 shows all around the world I realised that eventho I was traveling a lot I still couldn't experience new places and cultures to the fullest. There was never enough time. Sometimes I was able to plan an extra day. But what is one day to see an entire city? Hence, I wanted to travel more and stay longer in a foreign location." From DJ to Traveler

Research and Planning: How I prepared for my new life in a new place

Research and planning are important for any successful move.

When my wife and I decided to relocate, I knew I had to be prepared and organized to ensure a smooth transition.

One of the first things I had to arrange was of course, a visa! We had two months time to arrange everything.

After one week we found out that if I wanted to come along with my wife (who got a work visa) we had to get married. Sure, why not! Let’s do it.

Next, I created a moving checklist . I listed all the necessary tasks such as changing addresses, packing belongings and how to find a house there. Breaking down these tasks into smaller, manageable steps helped me stay focused. Additionally, I reached out to friends, family, and online for advice and recommendations. 

In the end we just packed our bags, booked a hotel for 2 weeks, and that’s it! 

Finding a Place to Live: The process of finding a house

Finding a place to live may seem difficult, but with the right mindset and resources, it can become quite and exciting adventure. 

How to find a house really depends on the country you are going to. In our case when we moved to China , I knew WeChat is used for everything. So online I found several agents and added them on WeChat.  

But house hunting is more than just searching for four walls and a roof; it’s about finding a place that will truly feel like your home.

This is especially important when your abroad! You’re in a completely unknown country far away from home.

So to avoid homesickness it is important to find the right place where you will feel at home. This led us to the decision of spending a bit more than initially planned. But it was worth it.

It’s just so important to feel at home when friends and family are not around.

When we relocated from China, to The Netherlands, to Erbil we had the choice of living closer to the city center in a smaller apartment with restaurants and coffee shops around, or to live a bit further away from the city center in a house with a garden but with less things to do in the neighbourhood.

We choses the bigger house and live further from the city center. The air is much better there and having a garden provides just more freedom.

Tip: Go with your gut feeling. Its nice to have restaurants around but if it doesn’t feel right then don’t do it.

Dealing with Homesickness: Coping strategies for missing family and friends

When you start your life in another country you can experience home sickness.

Especially after the first few months of being away from home your right between the feeling of being far from home and being in a foreign country where you are not feeling at home quite yet.

But I knew I made the right decision. Adjusting to a new environment can be tough, but there are things to do that help you deal with homesickness and make the most out of your experience.

Firstly , make an effort to stay connected with your loved ones. Schedule regular video calls or create group chats to deal with the distance. Taking part in local activities and making new friends can also help ease homesickness.

I just went to the park in China with my basketball and joined a group. People are super welcoming when they see a foreign face.

Also, remember to take care of yourself physically and emotionally. Eat well, exercise regularly, and find healthy outlets for your emotions such as journaling or talking to a counselor.

Believe in yourself and your ability to handle change, for homesickness is just a temporary bump in the road on your exciting journey of growth and transformation. 

In my experience after that certain bump of a few months you will see the beauty of the new country you are living in .

You will start to appreciate all those odd habits of people in the city.

You’ll start to find your way in town, with apps, people, perhaps an expat community, which makes everything just so much more pleasant.

What also can help is to bring along some of your favorite food from your home country so you can make your favorite dish! This will help to make you feel like home.

Dealing with homesickness In Short

• Schedule video calls with friends and family back home
• Meet people, socialize and make friends
• Bring your favorite food or spices from your country

Overcoming Challenges of starting a new Life in a Different Country

When moving abroad you probably have to deal with language barriers .

Embrace the opportunity to pick up a new language when you move to a different country! It is a crucial step in fully immersing yourself in the local culture. When I made the exciting leap to China, I had zero knowledge of Mandarin.

However, I enrolled in language lessons and dove headfirst into learning. The best way to learn a new language is to just do it! Try sentences at a store, bar or cafe and local folks will appreciate it and help you to explain how to say things in their language.

The way I dealt with cultural differences was just to be flexible. For example, in The Netherlands, everyone is very strict about time. If you have an appointment at 2 pm., you’re there at 2 pm, or preferably 5 minutes before. In many other countries folks can just come an hour later without any notice.

This also happened in China. Being flexible and to let go of some of my Dutch habits helped me to adjust to the new ways of living.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is the way to go.

Social Network in a new country: New connections, socialize and making friends

One of the most remarkable things I’ve learned living in a foreign country, was the welcoming vibe of other expats. What I mean by that is that those people who also took the same jump of moving to a different country are very likeminded people.

When I met some expats they immediately helped me with which apps to use, how to order food, get a taxi, what the best locations is for this and that and so on. This is something that you would never experience in your home country. It made things more easy and I made friends very quick.

In most countries there is an expat community that are open and super welcoming to new faces. On a regular basis in China the expat community held a pub-quiz. Normally in my country I wouldn’t go to a pub-quiz… But here, sure why not!

After the first pub-quiz I already made new friends. Something as simple as a pub-quiz can really help with finding friends.

Memorable moments living in a foreign country 

Moving to a strange new country can, or perhaps will, give some unexpected experiences. During this life-changing experience there will be bumps on the road.

But, because of all these bumps you will learn so much. Things you would have never learned in your home country!

I could write an entire book about unexpected surprises so I’ll just sum some of them up here:

• When I took language classes the owner of the school invited my wife and I and all my friends for a big dinner in Beijing.
• Me and my wife were invited to a Chinese wedding.
• I got to know a Chinese guy who lived 10 minutes from our home in Beijing. After we met we saw each other almost every day to hang out!
• The freedom of making money. I was able to perform in clubs, produce some music, have a job and so on. Much more freedom than in Europe where most of the time you’re stuck at on job.
• I met several Chinese millionaires that told me the craziest stories.
• Another thing I didn’t expect was that I actually miss living in China.
• The beautiful mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan, crazy!

3 Essential Tips for Anyone Thinking of Starting a new life abroad

1.   Share the idea: All I can say is that if you ever get the chance, or if there is just a slight opportunity you can take then do it.

If there isn’t, than try to create an opportunity. Share the idea of moving from one country to another to as many people as you can and there is always someone that knows a guy who knows a guy.

Sharing your idea with others really helps with kicking off your adventure.

Someone might have a relative where you can stay or someone might know about a job at certain company, who knows!

Before starting your journey, it is important to check if your bank allows you to keep your bank account while living abroad.

2. Contact your bank: In my case, when my bank found out, I got an e-mail saying they thought I was living in China, which is outside of the EU and they would cancel my account in 30 days ! How crazy is that.

3. Find someone you can trust: Another tip I can give is if you don’t speak the language yet, find someone that can and that your trust. When you’re moving abroad you’ll have to sign a housing contract for example.

What we did was make pictures of the contract and sent it to that friend who could read it and checked the contract for any odd things. Also, if you don’t know how to ask someone anything important you can call that friend and let him explain it on the phone. This really helps in the first few months.

Consumer affairs wrote a handy checklist as well.

Check out my personal moving to another country checklist.

Tips for relocating in short:

• Check the specifications of your bank account if your allowed to keep it while living abroad
• Find a friend who can read and speak the language that you can call
• just do it!

What is it like to live in China? The Complete Guide

• Living as Expat in Erbil · Kurdistan: A Complete Overview

Living in a Hutong in Beijing: A Complete Overview

Living In Shanghai as an Expat

An unexpected con of living in a new country.

Now that I’ve lived several years abroad a thing that I didn’t expect is this:

Whenever I tell about things I’ve experienced abroad, people in my own country don’t quite understand it.

I could tell enthusiastically about the craziest things that happened but it just wouldn’t resonate with them. Because they’ve never been there, it is just too far away from them to comprehend it.

When I chatted with other people that did live abroad I could tell that they did understand it because they experienced similar things. This, kind of made me feel less connected with my home country.

I never expected this to happen. I expected people in my home country to really wanted to hear what I’ve experienced but most of the time it just didn’t resonate with them at all.

It’s tough not to be able to really share all those amazing times you had abroad.

Reflecting on my experience moving to another country 

Moving to a new country has been one of the most epic experiences of my life.

I have become more adaptable, resilient, and open-minded. I have learned to embrace change and uncertainty, knowing that they are the catalysts for growth.

Stepping into a foreign land has forced me to confront some fears, break down barriers, and build many new connections. I have had to learn how to find my way in unfamiliar territory without speaking the language, and adapt to different social norms.

These challenges have taught me patience, perseverance, and problem-solving skills that I can apply to any aspect of my life. Moreover, my experiences in a new country have given me a deeper appreciation for diversity and the richness it brings to our lives!

I have come to realize that the world is much bigger than the small box, (my music studio), I inhabited before. I am grateful for every step I have taken and every person I have met on this incredible journey. 

• Moving To A New Country: The Complete Checklist You Need
• The 10 Best (And Doable) Ways To Make Money Abroad
• Living In Shanghai
• Traveling Safe in a New Country: 14 Pro Tips
• Life in a Hutong: A Complete Overview
• Traveling with Cats: 16 Essential Tips (from experience)

Useful websites

• https://www.expertsinmoving.com
• https://www.multilingualjobsworldwide.com
• https://www.expat.com/

F.A.Q. Moving to Another country

There were many reasons that led to my decision to move abroad. I wanted to experience a new culture and language, explore new and exciting opportunities, and challenge myself to adapt to a different way of life. My wife got a job offering in China and we decided to go for it.

The most challenging part of moving away was finding my way in a new town. My wife had a job, but I had to start from scratch.

Adapting to a new city took time, but I found it helpful to join local groups and just go to any social event.

Yes, there were moments of culture shock, especially in the beginning when I arrived in China. Everything from the, sometimes strange, food, customs, and even the way people interacted was different.

Plus, there aren’t many foreigners in China so being the only European sometimes in an airport or station was odd.

Yes, there were times when I felt homesick. But it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Especially after the first few months it became more easy when I made more friends.

The most rewarding part of expat life is the opportunity to enrich my life with new experiences and perspectives. Living in a different country has broadened my horizons and helped me grow personally.

Dealing with the time difference required some adjustment! In China it was 7 hours later than back home. I didn’t realize that the time difference would make scheduling video calls more difficult. 

Yes, when I moved to a different country, I had to open a new bank account. It was important to have a local bank account for daily transactions and to manage my finances effectively. Luckily we were able to arrange it very quick.

A funny things that happened when we were opening a bank account was when I had to fill in a form. The form asked about my occupation but there wasn’t any option of self-employed, or perhaps DJ.  The closest alternative available was the term “celebrity,” so that’s what I enthusiastically filled in!

Chris Oberman is the creator of Moving Jack and has been traveling the world for over 20 years to 40+ countries.

He lives in a different country every two years which allows him to gain unique in-depth insights in places abroad.

Read more about the author.

Travel Tips

• Digital Nomad , Travel Tips

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Photography

Which program are you applying to?

Accepted Admissions Blog

Everything you need to know to get Accepted

June 9, 2022

Writing About Your Experiences Abroad

You studied, worked, or volunteered abroad. Now you want to include part of this in your personal statement as part of an undergrad, AMCAS or other application. Maybe you want to show that you’ve experienced a different culture and expanded your perspective through your eye-opening experiences meeting new people, mountain-climbing, assisting in a rural community, or some other opportunity to help people who genuinely need it.

Don’t forget the most important question: WHY?

But, at this point, you’ve also realized that many other applicants have had similar experiences. While the experience may have been transformative for you, requiring you to learn how to operate without your usual safety net in a foreign environment, you need to ensure that your study abroad experience serves a role in your essay as something other than window-dressing.

But you also know that your experiences aren’t unique to you; other applicants will have had similar adventures. 

There’s an old Onion article that jokes about a person whose short work experience in Africa allowed her to post a better Facebook photo. Without asking yourself the most important question of why your experience was transformative in some way, your travel descriptions might resemble the person parodied in that article.

I’ve read many essays with lush descriptions of exotic scenery and people who speak different languages, yet the writer does not seem to have changed. Unless you can articulate how you have changed from these experiences, your stories will simply blend together with those of other applicants. The admissions committee will get the impression that you traveled simply to add another notch to your resume.

You may consider that your travel experience really was transformative for you, requiring you to learn how to operate without your usual safety net in a foreign environment, a pivotal moment in your life journey. The key is for you to be able to explain in your personal statement exactly why . 

[Click here to read a sample diversity essay]

What, specifically, did you learn from your immersion in another culture? It can’t be enough to just tell a story about someone you met on a bus, train, or in a classroom. Explain why and how that person’s influence changed you. How do you think, act, and perhaps even plan differently now as a result of this exposure?

An admissions committee member once told me that an applicant’s actual experience mattered less than how they talked about it . Even a seemingly dull experience can be transformative to someone who is really paying attention.

Do you need help taking your experiences and using them to create a unique, compelling – even exciting – personal statement? Explore our Admissions Consulting & Editing Services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor who will guide you through the admissions process to acceptance.

Jessica Pishko graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law School and received an M.F.A. from Columbia University. She spent two years guiding students through the medical school application process at Columbia’s Postbac Program and is a former Accepted admissions consultant.  Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Leadership in Admissions , a free guide
• 9 Secrets to Telling an Attention-Grabbing Story
• 7 Simple Steps to Writing an Excellent Diversity Essay

About Us Press Room Contact Us Podcast Accepted Blog Privacy Policy Website Terms of Use Disclaimer Client Terms of Service

Accepted 1171 S. Robertson Blvd. #140 Los Angeles CA 90035 +1 (310) 815-9553 © 2022 Accepted

Moving abroad - challenge in your life that helps to overcome weaknesses and broaden horizon

Pros and cons of moving abroad.

Lauretta 3 / 6   Oct 8, 2017   #2 carrier First paragraph, the word should be "CAREER" as used in the context not "CARRIER". Your essay has good content but contains a lot of grammatical and sentence construction errors.

• Share full article

Can You Lose Your Native Tongue?

After moving abroad, I found my English slowly eroding. It turns out our first languages aren’t as embedded as we think.

Credit... Artwork by PABLO DELCÁN

Supported by

By Madeleine Schwartz

Madeleine Schwartz is a writer and editor who grew up speaking English and French. She has been living in Paris since 2020.

• May 14, 2024

It happened the first time over dinner. I was saying something to my husband, who grew up in Paris where we live, and suddenly couldn’t get the word out. The culprit was the “r.” For the previous few months, I had been trying to perfect the French “r.” My failure to do so was the last marker of my Americanness, and I could only do it if I concentrated, moving the sound backward in my mouth and exhaling at the same time. Now I was saying something in English — “reheat” or “rehash” — and the “r” was refusing to come forward. The word felt like a piece of dough stuck in my throat.

Listen to this article, read by Soneela Nankani

Other changes began to push into my speech. I realized that when my husband spoke to me in English, I would answer him in French. My mother called, and I heard myself speaking with a French accent. Drafts of my articles were returned with an unusual number of comments from editors. Then I told a friend about a spill at the grocery store, which — the words “conveyor belt” vanishing midsentence — took place on a “supermarket treadmill.” Even back home in New York, I found my mouth puckered into the fish lips that allow for the particularly French sounds of “u,” rather than broadened into the long “ay” sounds that punctuate English.

My mother is American, and my father is French; they split up when I was about 3 months old. I grew up speaking one language exclusively with one half of my family in New York and the other language with the other in France. It’s a standard of academic literature on bilingual people that different languages bring out different aspects of the self. But these were not two different personalities but two separate lives. In one version, I was living with my mom on the Upper West Side and walking up Columbus Avenue to get to school. In the other, I was foraging for mushrooms in Alsatian forests or writing plays with my cousins and later three half-siblings, who at the time didn’t understand a word of English. The experience of either language was entirely distinct, as if I had been given two scripts with mirroring supportive casts. In each a parent, grandparents, aunts and uncles; in each, a language, a home, a Madeleine.

I moved to Paris in October 2020, on the heels of my 30th birthday. This was both a rational decision and something of a Covid-spurred dare. I had been working as a journalist and editor for several years, specializing in European politics, and had reported across Germany and Spain in those languages. I had never professionally used French, in which I was technically fluent. It seemed like a good idea to try.

When I arrived in France, however, I realized my fluency had its limitations: I hadn’t spoken French with adults who didn’t share my DNA. The cultural historian Thomas Laqueur, who grew up speaking German at home in West Virginia, had a similar experience, as the linguist Julie Sedivy notes in “Memory Speaks,” her book about language loss and relearning her childhood Czech. Sedivy cites an essay of Laqueur’s in which he describes the first time he learned that German was not, in fact, a secret family language. He and his brother had been arguing over a Popsicle in front of the grocery store near his house:

A lady came up to us and said, in German, that she would give us a nickel so that we could each have a treat of our own. I don’t remember buying a second Popsicle, but I do remember being very excited at finding someone else of our linguistic species. I rushed home with the big news.

My own introduction to speaking French as an adult was less joyous. After reaching out to sources for a different article for this magazine with little success, I showed the unanswered emails to a friend. She gently informed me that I had been yelling at everyone I hoped to interview.

Compared with English, French is slower, more formal, less direct. The language requires a kind of politeness that, translated literally, sounds subservient, even passive-aggressive. I started collecting the stock phrases that I needed to indicate polite interaction. “I would entreat you, dear Madam ...” “Please accept, dear sir, the assurances of my highest esteem.” It had always seemed that French made my face more drawn and serious, as if all my energy were concentrated into the precision of certain vowels. English forced my lips to widen into a smile.

But going back to English wasn’t so easy, either. I worried about the French I learned somehow infecting my English. I edit a magazine, The Dial, which I founded in part to bring more local journalists and writers to an English-speaking audience. But as I worked on texts by Ukrainians or Argentines or Turks, smoothing over syntax and unusual idioms into more fluid English prose, I began to doubt that I even knew what the right English was.

Back in New York on a trip, I thanked the cashier at Duane Reade by calling him “dear sir.” My thoughts themselves seemed twisted in a series of interlocking clauses, as though I was afraid that being direct might make me seem rude. It wasn’t just that my French was getting better: My English was getting worse.

For a long time, a central question in linguistics was how people learn language. But in the past few decades, a new field of study called “language attrition” has emerged. It concerns not learning but forgetting: What causes language to be lost?

People who move to new countries often find themselves forgetting words in their first language, using odd turns of phrase or speaking with a newly foreign accent. This impermanence has led linguists to reconsider much of what was once assumed about language learning. Rather than seeing the process of becoming multilingual as cumulative, with each language complementing the next, some linguists see languages as siblings vying for attention. Add a new one to the mix, and competition emerges. “There is no age at which a language, even a native tongue, is so firmly cemented into the brain that it can’t be dislodged or altered by a new one,” Sedivy writes. “Like a household that welcomes a new child, a single mind can’t admit a new language without some impact on other languages already residing there.”

As my time in France hit the year mark and then the two-year mark, I began to worry about how much French was changing my English — that I might even be losing some basic ability to use the language I considered closest to my core. It wasn’t an idle concern. A few years earlier, when living in Berlin, I found the English of decades-long expats mannered and strange; they spoke more slowly and peppered in bits of German that sounded forced and odd. As an editor, I could see it in translators too: The more time people spent in their new language, the more their English prose took on a kind of Germanic overtone. Would the same thing happen to me?

Even languages that seem firmly rooted in the mind can be subject to attrition. “When you have two languages that live in your brain,” says Monika S. Schmid, a leader in the field of language attrition at the University of York, “every time you say something, every time you take a word, every time you put together a sentence, you have to make a choice. Sometimes one language wins out. And sometimes the other wins.” People who are bilingual, she says, “tend to get very, very good at managing these kinds of things and using the language that they want and not having too much interference between the two.” But even so, there’s often a toll: the accent, the grammar or a word that doesn’t sound quite right.

What determines whether a language sticks or not? Age, Schmid says, is an important factor. “If you look at a child that is 8, 9 or 10 years old, and see what that child could do with the language and how much they know — they’re basically fully fledged native speakers.” But just as they are good language learners, children are good language forgetters. Linguists generally agree that a language acquired in early childhood tends to have greater emotional resonance for its speaker. But a child who stops speaking a language before age 12 can completely lose it. For those who stop speaking a language in childhood, that language can erode — so much so that when they try to relearn it, they seem to have few, if any, advantages, Schmid says, compared with people learning that language from scratch. Even a language with very primal, deep connections can fade into the recesses of memory.

In her book, Sedivy cites a study conducted in France that tested a group of adults who were adopted from Korea between the ages of 3 and 8 . Taken into French homes, they quickly learned French and forgot their first language. The researchers compared these adults with a group of monolingual French speakers. The participants born in Korea could not identify Korean sentences significantly better than the French control group. Intimate moments of childhood can be lost, along with the language in which they took place.

Researchers have stressed that a first language used through later years can be remarkably resilient and often comes back when speakers return home. But even adults who move to a new country can find themselves losing fluency in their first language. Merel Keijzer, a linguist at the University of Groningen who studies bilingualism, surveyed a group of Dutch speakers who emigrated as adults to Australia. A classic theory of linguistic development, she told me, argues that new language skills are superimposed on older ones like layers of an onion. She thus expected that she would find a simple language reversion: The layers that were acquired later would be most likely to go first.

The reality was more complicated. In a paper Keijzer wrote with Schmid, she found that the Dutch speakers in Australia did not regress in the way that she predicted. “You saw more Dutch coming into their English, but you also saw more English coming into their Dutch,” she says. The pattern wasn’t simple reversion so much as commingling. They “tended to just be less able to separate their languages.” As they aged, the immigrants didn’t go back to their original language; they just had difficulty keeping the two vocabularies apart.

In “Alfabet/Alphabet: A Memoir of a First Language,” the poet Sadiqa de Meijer, who was born in Amsterdam, discusses her own experiences speaking Dutch in Canada. She worries that her language has become “amusingly formal” now that she doesn’t speak it regularly. A friend tells her that she now sounds “like a book.” Unless she is in the Netherlands, she writes: “Dutch is primarily a reading language to me now. The skill of casual exchanges is in gradual atrophy.” Her young daughter does not want to speak Dutch. “Stop Dutching me!” she says. For De Meijer, “people who speak a language they learned after early childhood live in chronic abstraction.”

This state of abstraction was one that I feared. On some level, the worry felt trivial: In a world where languages are constantly being lost to English, who would complain about a lack of contact with the language responsible for devouring so many others? The Europeans that I interviewed for work deplored the imperial nature of English; the only way to have their ideas heard was to express them in a language imposed by globalization. But what I missed was not the universal English of academics nor the language of peppy LinkedIn posts but the particular sounds that I grew up with: the near-rudeness of the English spoken in New York and its rushed cadence, the way that the bottoms of words sometimes were swallowed and cut off, as if everyone already knew what was being suggested and didn’t need to actually finish the thought. I missed the variegated vocabulary of New York, where English felt like an international, rather than a globalized language, enriched with the particular words of decades of immigrants. I began to listen to “The Brian Lehrer Show” on WNYC, a public-radio station in New York, with strange fervor, finding myself excited whenever someone called in from Staten Island.

The idea that my facility with English might be weakening brought up complicated feelings, some more flattering than others. When a journalism student wrote to ask if I would be a subject in his dissertation about “the experiences of nonnative English-speaking journalists” in media, I took the email as a personal slight. Were others noticing how much I struggled to find the right word?

A change in language use, whether deliberate or unconscious, often affects our sense of self. Language is inextricably tied up with our emotions; it’s how we express ourselves — our pain, our love, our fear. And that means, as Schmid, the language-attrition expert at the University of York, has pointed out, that the loss of a language can be tied up with emotion too. In her dissertation, Schmid looked at German-speaking Jews who emigrated to England and the United States shortly before World War II and their relationship with their first language. She sent questionnaires asking them how difficult it was for them to speak German now and how they used the language — “in writing in a diary, for example, or while dreaming.”

One woman wrote: “I was physically unable to speak German. ... When I visited Germany for 3 or 4 days in 1949 — I found myself unable to utter one word of German although the frontier guard was a dear old man. I had to speak French in order to answer his questions.”

Her husband concurred: “My wife in her reply to you will have told you that she could and did not want to speak German because they killed her parents. So we never spoke German to each other, not even intimately.”

Another wrote: “I feel that my family did a lot for Germany and for Düsseldorf, and therefore I feel that Germany betrayed me. America is my country, and English is my language.”

Schmid divided the émigrés into three groups, tying each of them to a point in Germany’s history. The first group left before September 1935, that is, before the Nuremberg race laws. The second group left between the enactment of those laws and Kristallnacht, in November 1938. The last group comprised those who left between Kristallnacht and August 1939, just before Germany invaded Poland.

What Schmid found was that of all the possible factors that might affect language attrition, the one that had a clear impact was how much of the Nazi regime they experienced. Emigration date, she wrote, outweighed every other factor; those who left last were the ones who were the least likely to be perceived as “native” speakers by other Germans, and they often had a weaker relationship to that language:

It appears that what is at the heart of language attrition is not so much the opportunity to use the language, nor the age at the time of emigration. What matters is the speaker’s identity and self-perception. ... Someone who wants to belong to a speech community and wants to be recognized as a member is capable of behaving accordingly over an extremely long stretch of time. On the other hand, someone who rejects that language community — or has been rejected and persecuted by it — may adapt his or her linguistic behavior so as not to appear to be a member any longer.

In other words, the closeness we have with a language is not just a product of our ability to use it but of other emotional valences as well. If language is a form of identity, it is one that may be changed by circumstance or even by force of will.

Stories of language loss often mask other, larger losses. Lily Wong Fillmore, a linguist who formerly taught at the University of California, Berkeley, once wrote about a family who emigrated to California several years after leaving China’s Canton province in 1989. One child, Kai-fong, was 5 when he arrived in the United States. At this point in his life, he could speak and understand only Cantonese. While his younger sister learned English almost immediately and made friends easily, Kai-fong, who was shy, did not have the same experience in school. His classmates called him “Chi, chi, chia pet” because his hair stuck out. Boys mocked the polyester pants his grandmother sewed for him. Pretty soon, he and his classmates were throwing rocks at one another.

Once Kai-fong started learning English, he stopped speaking Cantonese, even to members of his own family. As Wong Fillmore writes: “When Grandmother spoke to him, he either ignored her or would mutter a response in English that she did not understand. ... The more the adults scolded, the more sullen and angry Kai-fong became.” By 10, he was known as Ken and no longer understood Cantonese well. The family began to split along linguistic lines. Two children born in the United States never learned Cantonese at all. It is a story, Wong Fillmore writes, “that many immigrant families have experienced firsthand.”

The recognition in linguistics of the ease with which mastery of a language can erode comes as certain fundamentals of the field are being re-examined — in particular, the idea that a single, so-called native language shapes your innermost self. That notion is inextricable from 19th-century nationalism, as Jean-Marc Dewaele, a professor at the University of London, has argued. In a paper written with the linguists Thomas H. Bak and Lourdes Ortega, Dewaele notes that many cultures link the first words you speak to motherhood: In French, your native language is a langue maternelle, in Spanish, lengua materna, in German, Muttersprache. Turkish, which calls your first language ana dili, follows the same practice, as do most of the languages of India. Polish is unusual in linking language to a paternal line. The term for native language is język ojczysty, which is related to ojciec, the Polish word for father.

Regarding a first language as having special value is itself the product of a worldview that places national belonging at the heart of individual life. The phrase “native speaker” was first used by the politician and philologist George Perkins Marsh, who spoke of the importance of “home-born English.” It came with more than a light prejudicial overtone. Among Marsh’s recommendations was the need for “special precautions” to protect English from “becoming debased and vulgarized ... by association with depraved beings and unworthy themes.”

The idea of a single, native language took hold in linguistics in the mid-20th century, a uniquely monolingual time in human history. American culture, with its emphasis on assimilation, was especially hostile to the notion that a single person might inhabit multiple languages. Parents were discouraged from teaching their children languages other than English, even if they expressed themselves best in that other language. The simultaneous acquisition of multiple tongues was thought to cause delays in language development and learning. As Aneta Pavlenko, a linguist at Drexel University and the University of York, has noted, families who spoke more than one language were looked down on by politicians and ignored by linguists through the 1970s. “Early bilinguals,” those who learned two languages in childhood, “were excluded from research as ‘unusual’ or ‘messy’ subjects,” she writes. By contrast, late bilinguals, those who learned a second language in school or adulthood, were treated as “representative speakers of their first language.” The fact that they spoke a second language was disregarded. This focus on the importance of a single language may have obscured the historical record, giving the impression that humans are more monolingual and more rigid in their speech than they are.

Pavlenko has sought to show that far from being the historical standard, speaking just one language may be the exception. Her most recent book, a collection of essays by different scholars, takes on the historical “amnesia” that researchers have about the prevalence of multilingualism across the globe. The book looks at examples where multiple languages were the norm: medieval Sicily, where the administrative state processed paperwork in Latin, Greek and Arabic, or the early Pennsylvania court system, where in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was not unusual to hold hearings in German. Even today, Pavlenko sees a split: American academics working in English, often their only language, regard it as the standard for research. Europeans, obliged to work in English as a second language, are more likely to consider that fluency in only one language may be far rarer than conflict among multiple tongues.

According to Dewaele and his colleagues, “the notion of a single native language, determined entirely by the earliest experiences, is also not supported by neurology and neuroscience.” While there are many stories about patients who find themselves speaking their first language after a stroke or dementia, it’s also common for the recovered patients to use the language they spoke right before the accident occurred.

All of this has led some linguists to push against the idea of the “native” speaker, which, as Dewaele says, “has a dark side.” It can be restrictive, stigmatizing accents seen as impure, or making people feel unwelcome in a new home. Speakers who have studied a language, Dewaele says, often know its grammar better than those who picked it up with their family. He himself prefers the term “first-language user” — a slightly clunky solution that definitively decouples the language you speak from the person you are.

Around the time I realized that I had most likely become the No. 1 WNYC listener outside the tristate area, I started to seek out writers who purposefully looked away from their “native” language. Despite the once commonly held belief that a writer could produce original works only in a “mother tongue,” wonderful books have been written in acquired, rather than maternal, languages. Vladimir Nabokov began to write in English shortly before he moved to the United States. French was a vehicle for Samuel Beckett to push his most innovative ideas. “It’s only in Italian that I feel I’m at the center of myself,” Jhumpa Lahiri, who started writing in Italian in her 40s, said in a recent Paris Review interview. “It’s only when I’m writing in Italian that I manage to turn off all those other, judgmental voices, except perhaps my own.”

Could I begin to think about different languages not as two personas I had to choose between but as different moods that might shift depending on circumstance? Aspects of French that I used to find cold began to reveal advantages. The stiff way of addressing strangers offered its own benefits, new ways in which I could conserve personal privacy in a world that constantly demanded oversharing. My conversations in French changed, too: I was finally talking to others not as a child but as an adult.

The author Yoko Tawada, who moved to Germany from Japan in her early 20s, works on books in both Japanese and German; she writes fluidly in both languages. Tawada’s most recent novel to be translated into English, “Scattered All Over the Earth,” explores a future in which Japan is sunken underwater, lost to climate change. A Japanese speaker, possibly the last on earth, looks for a man who she hopes shares her language, only to find that he has been pretending to be Japanese while working at a sushi restaurant.

Using new languages, or even staying within the state of multilingualism, can provide distinct creative advantages. Tawada plays with homonyms and the awkwardness that comes from literal translation. What emerges in her work is not a single language but a betweenness, a tool for the author to invent as she is using it, the scholar Yasemin Yildiz has noted. Yildiz quotes an essay by Tawada called “From the Mother Language to the Language Mother,” in which a narrator describes the ways that learning German taught her to see language differently: Writing in the second language was not a constraint, but a new form of invention. Tawada calls her typewriter a Sprachmutter, or “language mother” — an inversion of the German word for mother tongue. In a first language, we can rarely experience “playful joy,” she writes. “Thoughts cling so closely to words that neither the former nor the latter can fly freely.” But a new language is like a staple remover, which gets rid of everything that sticks and clings.

If the scholarly linguistic consensus once pushed people toward monolingualism, current research suggesting that language acquisition may shift with our circumstances may allow speakers of multiple languages to reclaim self-understanding. In Mirene Arsanios’s chapbook “Notes on Mother Tongues: Colonialism, Class and Giving What You Don’t Have,” Arsanios describes being unsure which language to speak with her son. Her mother, from Venezuela, spoke Spanish, her father, from Lebanon, spoke French; neither feels appropriate to pass on. “Like other languages originating in histories of colonization, my language always had a language problem, something akin to the evacuation of a ‘first’ or ‘native’ tongue — a syntax endemic to the brain and to the heart.”

Is the answer a multitude of languages or a renunciation of one? “Having many languages is my language’s dominant language,” she writes. She must become comfortable with the idea that what she is transmitting to her son is not a single language but questions and identities that are never quite resolved. At the end of the text, she describes speaking with her son “in a tongue reciprocal, abundant and motherless.”

The scholars I talked to stressed that each bilingual speaker is unique: Behind the general categories is a human life, with all its complications. Language acquisition and use may be messier than was envisioned by rigid distinctions of native and nonnative and, at the same time, more individual.

My own grandmother, my mother’s mother, grew up speaking German in Vienna in what was itself a multilingual household. Her mother was Austrian and her father, born in what is now Serbia, spoke German with a thick Hungarian accent. She and her family moved throughout Europe during World War II; to Budapest, Trieste, Lille and eventually escaped through Portugal on a boat carrying cork to New York.

When they arrived in the United States, her mother did not want her to speak German in public. “She felt the animosity to it,” my grandmother recently told me. But my grandmother still wished to. German was also the language of Schiller, she would say. She didn’t go out of her way to speak German, but she didn’t forget it either. She loved German poetry, much of which she still recites, often unprompted, at 95.

When I mentioned Schmid’s research to her, she was slightly dismissive of the idea that her own language use might be shaped by trauma. She said that she found the notion of not speaking German after World War II somewhat absurd, mostly because, to her ear, Hitler spoke very bad German. She berated me instead for not asking about her emotional relationship to French, which she spoke as a schoolgirl in Lille, or Italian, which she spoke in Trieste. Each was the source of memories that might wax and wane as she recalled the foreign words.

Recently, she reconnected with an old classmate from her childhood in Vienna, who also fled Europe during the war, after she recognized her friend’s picture in The New York Post. They speak together in English. Her friend Ruth, she notes, speaks English with a German accent, but does not speak German anymore.

Madeleine Schwartz lives in Paris, where she is founder and editor in chief of The Dial, a magazine of international reporting and writing. She was a finalist for the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2023 and teaches journalism at Sciences Po Paris.

Read by Soneela Nankani

Narration produced by Tanya Pérez

Engineered by Brian St. Pierre

Explore The New York Times Magazine

Charlamagne Tha God on ‘The Interview’ : The radio host talked to Lulu Garcia-Navarro about how he plans to wield his considerable political influence .

Was the 401(k) a Mistake? : Here’s how an obscure, 45-year-old tax change  transformed retirement and left so many Americans out in the cold.

A Third Act for the Ages : Like her character on “Hacks,” Jean Smart is winning late-career success  on her own exuberant terms.

The C.E.O.s Who Won’t Quit : What happens to a company — and the economy — when the boss refuses to retire ?

Retiring in Their 30s : Meet the schemers and savers  obsessed with ending their careers as early as possible.

Advertisement

Moving back to Ireland would mean working till 10pm, no home of my own and bad coffee

It’s sad when the numbers say you’re better off leaving ireland.

A restaurant in the Braddon suburb of Canberra, Australia, where the steak is capital. Photograph: Rohan Thomson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Emigration is a matter of arithmetic, but not necessarily a straightforward one. Not for me at least, or for anyone who is not adept at quantifying a life.

There are the lists, for one thing. Endless lists. The things to do. The visa checklists. The people to call or email. The things to rehome. The things to take. The things to store and the things to buy. The things to pitch on to a ship and send to Australia because your best guess suggests they’ll probably still be relevant to your as-yet theoretical new life when they arrive in six to nine months’ time.

Then, when they arrive you look through the boxes and think, “who was that person? The one who packed this teapot or these sheets or this scarf?”

There are the lists once you arrive. Lists of rental properties to look at and bank accounts to open and forms to fill in. Lists of utilities to set up. Everything seems to come down to numbers in the end as you sit, jetlagged, on a foreign floor next to a foreign socket and realise that nobody has packed enough adaptors. That even after you eventually buy enough adaptors, your electricity bill is less than half the price in Australia and you can’t quite compute why that might be when you’re heating the place in winter and cooling it in summer. That chicken is cheaper and so is beef and so is rent, yet the price difference is paid in time and distance from home.

A personal housing plan: Move to Newry, buy for €150,000 less, commute to Dublin

Dublin pizza restaurant ranked 15th in top 20 European pizzerias

Bruce Springsteen in Cork: Everything you need to know about Páirc Uí Chaoimh concert

Eleven hidden gems: The best lesser-known attractions to visit around Ireland on a budget

There are costs to every decision, whether you stay or you go.

The other night, himself and I went out for dinner with a couple of friends here in the Australian capital. For steak, to be precise, because Australians are excellent at food in general, but they have a particular gift when it comes to steak, and it was a special occasion. The food is one of the elements of this country that took me by surprise – just how good most food and drinks are. You don’t have to be in the vaunted restaurants that make Sydney’s international culinary reputation.

You can wander into many eateries here in Canberra and stumble out an hour later, sonneting sonnets about what you anticipated would be a humble salad or a quick sandwich. You can order a casual cup of coffee to go in most cafes and find your knees locking in the street when you take a sip as your brain tells your legs to “hang on just a moment” so it can appreciate the rich flavour. The silken milk that whispers over your palette like a softly spoken word of reassurance, and you look at the cup in astonishment and you think of overpriced cups of burnt coffee in Dublin chain cafes.

For a moment, you can’t imagine why you’d go back.

In this nice Canberra steak restaurant, where steak and sides for four, two starters and drinks cost €200 all round, a British friend asked me whether I was experiencing pangs of longing for home. They too are relatively recent immigrants to Australia, but spoke of being a little surprised that on internal examination they could find no longing at all for their native London. “There is room for reflection here,” they said. “I don’t know if it’s something about the vastness of the landscape, or the slower pace of life.”

Or perhaps, they said, it is because they leave their place of work at the end of each day and are almost never bothered by an out-of-hours email. That the culture here is one that values family time and free time more highly than they do in London and seeks not to encroach upon it wherever possible.

I thought about how different my life is in Australia to the one I led in London, and in Dublin before that. It was entirely usual that I would still be working at my desk at home at 10pm most nights. Most of my money evaporated on commuting to and from wherever I was then earning money, and buying terrible cups of overpriced coffee to stay awake while there. My guts seemed linked to my email inbox so that every ping caused my stomach to somersault in anticipation of bad news, a task I didn’t want to undertake, or another employer explaining why they would pay me (a freelancer), for the work I completed two months ago, in 12 weeks’ time. Then I would do the numbers – figure out the bills and the groceries and how much more work I would have to take on to compensate, hoping that the money would come in when it was supposed to.

I thought about my friend’s question – whether I was missing home.

Figuring out the answer seems to be a problem of arithmetic. Weighing costs against benefits and counting up the difference. Because yes. Yes and, then again, no. Like most of us, if I had unlimited funds I would live differently. I would spend the summer in Ireland, filling my niece and nephew’s laughing little faces with sugar and mincing my stiff toes into still-chilly June seawater. I’d make a base in west Cork and fill my lungs with that whirring, hay-sweet summer air, watching the sea unfold into the vast horizon.

Yet, that’s a fantasy life.

It isn’t the one that awaits if I return to Ireland.

There would be no easy pink lungs filled with summer air. It would be hunched at a desk working till 10pm again and being unable to afford a home. It would be burnt chain coffee and endless frustration with a bafflingly disconnected Government. It would be an instant itching to be gone, knowing that basic comfort is not all that easy to achieve at home. Knowing how many are struggling already.

That is the arithmetic of emigration.

The costs you must consider because you pay one way or the other. There is the kind of life you desire – one where you can stop and catch your breath for a moment – and there is the place you love most, but where you have to run after yourself so that you can never quite stop and fill your lungs.

Most of us cannot have both, so you calculate the costs, and you pick.

IN THIS SECTION

‘dad has cancer’: the words felt wrong in my mouth, like i was lying, selling ireland to the spanish: ‘the majority prefer to stay at home, so you need to offer a strong proposition’, the landlord asked where his ‘antique toilet brush’ was and demanded recompense from our deposit, ‘no irish, no blacks, no dogs’: irish times readers recall seeing notorious signs in britain, i visited singapore to see why it is ranked as the top education system in the world. here’s what i learned, wolfe tones lead singer sues rté for defamation over comments made by joe duffy on liveline, green party councillor attacked while hanging posters in dublin, woman’s 30-year ‘vendetta’ against brother over farm is ‘worst example of weaponisation’ of courts, irish woman gives evidence of brutal rape 20 years ago allegedly by chief suspect in madeleine mccann disappearance, drug dealer’s former partner given three months to leave family home deemed proceeds of crime, latest stories, solar farms in space could help solve global energy crisis following tech breakthrough, irish scientists predict, ibm to create 800 jobs in dublin, cork and waterford over three years, heavy summer rainfall putting pressure on irish beaches and increasing temporary closures, epa warns, ireland could get 5,000 us visas if new bill passes through us congress, the dry review: this irish sitcom sparkles once you get past the alcoholism cliches.

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Information
• Cookie Settings
• Community Standards

Photo Essay: My Spring 2024 Semester at CDS

Hi there! My name is Isabella Boncser, and I'm currently a sophomore in the six-year Accelerated BS/DPT program in Boston University's Sargent College (2026/2028). In addition to my academic pursuits, I have a passion for photography, and am currently the CDS student event photographer. I love capturing student life within CDS, whether that be taking pictures of students studying in the building on a rainy day, attending 24-hour civic tech hackathon on the 17th floor, or a faculty and staff appreciation event. Over this past semester, I had the honor of working with the CDS communications team, led by Maureen McCarthy , director, and Alessandra Augusto , events & communications manager.

I was asked to highlight some of my best and brightest work from the semester. The following images were captured this spring, and are some of my favorite images. They showcase the versatility of student life within CDS and BU Spark !

BU Spark! hosted a Tech For Change Civic Tech Hackathon , where students spent 24 hours at BU to developed a new project with teamwork and technical skills at the forefront. I had the opportunity to meet students from 19 different schools, all of whom spent (literally) day and night on the 17th floor of the Center for Computing & Data Sciences working together and using their hacking skills to create a difference in the world. Pictured here are two students celebrating after discussing their individual projects and asking for some advice regarding their presentations.

CDS serves as home for a variety of people and their furry friends! This image shows Miss Belle, the beautiful English Setter (who loves birds) who shares office space with her owner, Chris DeVits, CDS Director of Administration.

The Center for Computing & Data Sciences truly has a place for everyone at BU. The main level has become the campus living room, where students can meet to chat over coffee, or catch up on emails on the staircase. On a rainy day, students can find a " cozy corner " and focus on their work in a relaxing environment. This is a glimpse of the "sit steps" - the large staircase with over two dozen conversation spaces that has become popular for students to relax and get some work done between classes.

You may have heard people refer to the Center for Computing & Data Sciences as the "Jenga Building" because of its Jenga-like architecture. The building, which is home to the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, the Departments of Mathematics & Statistics and Computer Sciences, and the renowned Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computation Science & Engineering, embraces its beautiful yet fun architecture while focusing on community! Next time you are craving a fun study break, join the CDS Events Team for a night of Jenga and try some delicious popcorn!

Driving down Commonwealth Avenue, the building stands out amongst its peers and shines bright along the Boston city skyline. Illuminating the streets during dusk, the building is one of my favorites the photograph. The 17th floor is home to many events hosted by CDS faculty and staff, as well as the general BU community.

The students pictured had been working tirelessly on their TFC Civic Tech Hackathon project. This photo exemplifies teamwork, collaboration, and partnership. Although students were working on their projects for 24 hours on the 17th floor of CDS, they were all smiles for the camera during final presentations!

Yoga at the Top of BU has become a staple for students to come and enjoy a one-hour yoga session. The class is open to all students across BU, and is a great way to take a study break and get your body moving. If you are a zen master, or have never taken a yoga class before, come join us for the next session!

The BU Spark! team gathered for a group picture during the Civic Tech Hackathon which took place on the 17th floor in February. Over the Spring 2024 semester, I've had the pleasure of getting to know the ambassadors from each track, and their passion for their work within the BU community is truly inspiring. BU Spark! hosts numerous events, talks, and community-building programs like Cookie O'clock, town halls, and much more. Visit the BU Spark! space on the second floor to learn more about their involvement on campus!

Computational Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences ( CHASS ) hosted a variety of tutorials ranging from "An Analysis on Emerson's Work" to large language model discussions throughout the Spring 2024 semester. These sessions are a great way to learn about the data science industry and how your skills will be used in the real world. Check out the CHASS video tutorial library on YouTube .

I am heading to Dublin, Ireland to live and study abroad for the Fall 2024 semester! I am so thankful to Maureen McCarthy who gave me the opportunity to work with and celebrate the CDS community. I would also like to shoutout Sebastian Bak (QST'25) who recommended the position to me, and spoke so highly of the CDS community!

Share this:

• Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

View all posts

After 3 years in Thailand, I moved back to New York. It didn't feel like home anymore, so I took off again.

• Elizabeth Lavis left New York for Thailand, planning to stay for 6 months, and ended up living there for 3 years.
• While living abroad, she missed some things about the US, but when she returned, it didn't feel like home.
• Now, she considers traveling her "real life" and sees it as just as authentic and valid as the stationary alternative.

As I tucked into a bowl of wisp-thin Thai rice noodles studded with bok choy and sprinkled with fried garlic, all I could do was wax poetic about Buffalo wings.

Plastic spoon in one hand, chopsticks in the other, I described my hometown's finest fare, which included hot, buttery chicken wings. My favorite basket always came from a local dive bar in Western New York, 15 miles from Niagara Falls.

Throughout the three years I lived in Thailand , a few Chang beers or a familiar Garth Brooks song about friends in low places would often prompt me to crave a seat at that bar, 8,533 miles across the ocean, with wings on one side and Reuben fries on the other.

After three years of teaching English, working at summer camps in the far north of Thailand, and spending long weekends exploring the country by train , I moved back to Buffalo. I was excited to bathe my eager tastebuds in all the Frank's hot sauce and meaty wings and wash it down with an ice-cold Loganberry soda.

But for some reason, everything was different. The old classic dishes didn't offer the culinary homecoming I'd been hoping for. Instead, I got horrid stomach cramps and acute nausea. The Buffalo wing mythology no longer held up. More importantly, I didn't feel like I was home.

My "6-month" journey to Thailand

After breaking up with my long-term boyfriend, crashing my car, and quitting my job — in that order — I moved to Koh Samui . I told everyone I'd be back in six months.

But six months passed on the tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand, and instead of heading home, I made a visa run to the Thai-Laos border to stay for longer. It would be my first of many, extending my initial six months to three years.

Related stories

I was hooked on the steamy weather, the beaches with water the color of blue topaz, and the food. The ice-cold pineapples tasted as sweet as sponge candy (a treat from Buffalo similar to toffee). Lunch usually included spicy som tom with sour tamarind, peanuts, and shrimp, along with coconut water straight from the shell — always served with a little spoon to dig out the creamy flesh.

Fresh Thai food and the tropical climate did come with a few tradeoffs. Spiders, as big as softballs, would plop in front of me and scuttle away to some dark corner of my bathroom as I shrieked and swatted to no avail. Cockroaches were similarly supersized, and some could fly. Packs of stray dogs and lumbering monitor lizards shared urban space, even taking refuge in air-conditioned 7-11s during the most sweltering days.

Thai transportation wasn't always reliable or safe, including rickety trains that often ran late. Sometimes you'd hear horror stories about them derailing. Once, I heard an unsubstantiated and harrowing rumor about a monkey that climbed up a train toilet and terrorized the passengers until someone tranquilized it. While this particular story might be a total myth, anyone who's ever ridden those trains knows that a stowaway is not entirely implausible.

A strange homecoming

After three years in Thailand , I thought I was ready to come home. I missed reliable transportation, manageable bugs, the change of seasons, my friends and family, and the Great Lakes comfort food I'd been pining for.

At first, I relished the change. Buffalo is gloriously predictable in the best possible way. There are no surprise toilet monkeys. The trains do not derail. The food delivers on its promises: fatty, spicy, bready, and often served with a big cup of chunky blue cheese. On the other hand, there is not much public transportation, and as I didn't have a car, I was at the mercy of Uber. Also, my tastebuds had veered sharply from the local cuisine during my years away.

Beyond catching up with family and old friends, I felt little connection to my hometown. It was jarring, unexpected, and deeply sad. After three years away, my happy homecoming felt more like visiting a distant place full of friendly and familiar faces than settling back into my comfort zone.

I even realized that my definition of comfort food had changed.

On the road again

A year later, I headed back to the tropics, this time south, to Costa Rica. My plan was to chase epic surfing on the Pacific Coast, explore the rainforest, and brush up on my Spanish.

Now, while tucking into a plate of gallo pinto with Linzano sauce, my mind wanders to the wobbly red plastic chairs where I sat curbside to enjoy my favorite noodle soup in Bangkok — a reminder of another one of my homes.

When I left for Thailand almost a decade ago, I imagined that I'd be going back to my "real life" after six months. Now, I understand that traveling is my "real life," and it's as authentic and valid as a stationary one. Sometimes, the chaotic streets of Bangkok or the cozy bar-rooms of Buffalo still whisper my name. But I'm happy to keep moving forward, finding adventure, comfort, and a sense of home on the road.

Got a personal essay about culture shock or relocating that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: [email protected] .

Watch: Marriott International's Tina Edmundson tells Insider that the travel mindset has changed since the pandemic

• Main content

This couple was priced out of Seattle’s housing market, so they bought a farmhouse in Japan for $30K — here are their 2 big reasons for moving abroad

We adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Some or all links contained within this article are paid links.

Leika and Brandon Hansen purchased a 100-year-old Kominka-style farmhouse with swathes of rice fields in Japan’s countryside last year.

“We have stable jobs and we're trying to do our best in the U.S., but the area that we want to live — in Seattle — we could easily get priced out pretty fast,” said Leika.

The couple’s new home in Okayama cost them just $30,000, compared to expensive Seattle, where the typical home is valued at around $847,000, according to Zillow.

• Commercial real estate has beaten the stock market for 25 years — but only the super rich could buy in. Here's how even ordinary investors can become the landlord of Walmart, Whole Foods or Kroger
• Cost-of-living in America is still out of control — use these 3 'real assets' to protect your wealth today , no matter what the US Fed does or says
• These 5 magic money moves will boost you up America's net worth ladder in 2024 — and you can complete each step within minutes. Here's how

Leika — whose mother grew up in Japan — never would have imagined moving there permanently until Brandon shared his own experience in the quiet towns around the Okayama and Osaka area.

“Japan seemed like a slower pace of life,” said Brandon in the couple's interview with Business Insider. “It's easy to live here.”

So, in the summer of 2023, the Hansens made the decision to permanently move to Japan and there are two big reasons why. And if you feel priced out of the U.S. housing market but still want to add real estate to your portfolio, here are a couple options to consider

1. Cheaper real estate

On the couple’s YouTube channel, Leika explains how they wanted to search for alternatives outside of the U.S. and they discovered “akiyas” — vacant or abandoned homes in Japan that were also incredibly cheap. The duo started browsing properties in January of 2023 before closing on their new home in June of that year and even posting a house tour on their YouTube channel in December.

In January 2023 when Leika and Brandon were first looking for a home, the median sale price in the U.S was $383,249. Fast forward to this year and prices are even higher, hitting $411,887 in February.

So if you, like the Hansens, are feeling priced out of the American dream but you don’t want to uproot your life and move abroad then consider investing in U.S real estate in other ways - without the burden of taking on an expensive mortgage or the perils of property management.

With Arrived , a platform backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, you can invest in shares of vacation and rental homes here in the U.S. without the burdens of buying and managing properties. You can start by browsing through their curation selection of homes , vetted for their income earning and appreciation potential.

Once you’ve found a property that best fits your needs, you can choose how many shares you’d like to purchase, and start investing with as little as $100 .

If you’re feeling priced out of the market, like the Hansens, there are still ways you can add real estate to your portfolio without having to worry about high prices and mortgage rates — and you aren’t limited to residential real estate either.

With First National Realty Partners , accredited investors can invest in institutional-quality, grocery anchored commercial real estate properties leased by national brands like Walmart and Whole Foods.

All you have to do to get started is fill in some information about yourself, your income and investment goals. Then FNRP’s team of experts manages every aspect of the investment process, so you could sit back and enjoy your quarterly distributions .

Read more: Jeff Bezos and Oprah Winfrey invest in this asset to keep their wealth safe — you may want to do the same in 2024

2. Retirement dreams

The YouTube couple also decided it was important for them to pursue their hobbies and interests — and get a jumpstart on their retirement goals, like buying farmland.

“I really want honeybees. I'm super passionate about pizza and having an outdoor pizza oven,” said Brandon. “These are things that we think of as retirement dreams.”

One way you can secure your retirement so you can live out your own dream retirement life wherever you want is by investing in assets that help to secure your nest egg.

Gold is a popular hedge against inflation for a straightforward reason: It can’t be printed out of thin air like fiat money. Amid persitent inflation, gold prices have reached new heights, now standing at around $2,338 per ounce.

American Hartford Gold can help you set up a gold IRA, allowing you to invest in physical gold and other precious metals within a tax advantaged retirement account. This strategy combines the tax benefits of an IRA with the inflation-hedging benefits of gold, offering a way to diversify your portfolio .

Not sure what your retirement goals are or how to reach them? To help you map out your golden years, it might be a good idea to discuss your options with a professional.

With an easy-to-use platform like WiserAdvisor , you can find and compare vetted, registered financial advisors with just a few clicks.

To get started, just answer a few questions about your finances and goals WiserAdvisor will match you with 2-3 financial advisers. You can view their profiles, read up on their credentials, and book a free consultation with no obligation to hire, to see if they’re the right match.

What to read next

• Car insurance premiums in America are through the roof — and only getting worse. But 5 minutes could have you paying as little as $29/month
• The 5 most expensive mistakes in options trading and how to avoid them
• ‘Baby boomers bust': Robert Kiyosaki warns that older Americans will get crushed in the 'biggest bubble in history' — 3 shockproof assets for instant insurance now

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Accessibility Links

GenderGP founders ‘chased by bailiffs’ after moving abroad

When The Times knocked on the door of the modest former home of Dr Helen and Michael Webberley, in Abergavenny, south Wales, this week, the new owner could not provide a forwarding address.

But she did complain of frequent visits from bailiffs and debt-collectors looking for the couple, who established the online gender clinic GenderGP in 2015 before moving to Spain.

GenderGP was thrust into the spotlight this month after Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division of the High Court, cited “serious concerns” about the safety of its patients.

He issued a ruling on a case involving a 16-year-old trans boy, referred to as J, who was prescribed testosterone by the clinic.

A consultant paediatric endocrinologist said the dose given was “dangerously high”,

Related articles