Someone planned it for a long time, and someone left almost in one day, but everyone who somehow decided to emigrate is unanimous: it is not at all what it might seem at first.
When the first feeling of euphoria passes, it becomes clear: in addition to the most necessary things, for some reason you took with you a lot of expectations that are completely unjustified by life abroad.
“A different culture and mentality is a matter of habit”
As a rule, for moving people choose countries that they have already been to. This gives them the illusion of understanding how another culture works. But it is one thing to come into contact with another culture as a tourist (and they are always allowed a little more by default) and quite another as a local.
When you move somewhere, at least for a temporary place of residence, the peculiarities of the mentality of other nationalities already become noticeable.
“Everything is about the same there”
When emigrants settle in the cities of other countries, they expect to find there the same thing that was available to them before: round-the-clock food delivery and stores with the usual range of products, open daily at least until 23:00, well-established applications of banks, shops, pharmacies, understandable conditions for submitting documents to different places, plus or minus the usual prices for services.
However, on the spot, it turns out that prices, food, attitude towards emigrants, the work schedule of everything in the world, and much more here are radically different from what they are used to at home. We have to rebuild a life in the new realities.
“You can quickly become your own”
Perhaps this is the main misconception with which emigrants leave for permanent residence abroad. Of course, for those who are fluent in the language of the country where they are going, it will be much easier on the spot, especially if the appearance of this person is about the same as that of the locals. He will simply be more often taken for his own. And in any country, the attitude toward one’s own is completely different than toward strangers – even in Germany, Turkey, and Thailand. Although, of course, much depends on the individual.
Making new friends among locals abroad is difficult. The reason is simple: adults most often already have a well-established social circle where newcomers are reluctantly accepted.
“Everything new will not be boring”
Many ex-pats are sure that the novelty of the place will help them escape from boredom or a feeling of loneliness. But here a lot depends on how you are used to having fun. Holidays, concerts, exhibitions, and other events abroad are held in local languages, the same goes for films in cinemas: even in Turkey, with its rich film industry, going to the cinema will be a problem for a foreigner.
The Germans or the Swiss will not blink an eye to report you to the police if you want to arrange loud gatherings with beer and barbecue near your house. And in Armenia, such noisy family holidays will be held under your windows, and few people will be interested that you are an introvert and a lover of silence. They will invite you to join.
“There are fewer problems in other countries”
Many countries only from afar seem almost like an earthly paradise. And only on the spot, some emigrants suddenly find out that the same Turkey, Armenia, and Israel are involved in complex territorial disputes. Protests occur in France, which sometimes turn into real battles with the police. In Germany, railway workers often like to strike, which regularly leads to a transport collapse.
“Emigration is only slightly more difficult than tourism”
Emigration and tourism are completely different things. The first requires incomparably more money, effort, and time for arrangement, it forces to solve problems that a tourist simply would not encounter. For example, how to quickly find a new apartment, because the owner of the previous one has dramatically changed the conditions, where to find an intelligent translator (not a scammer!), Who will help collect documents for a residence permit, how not to miss the visa expiration dates, where to look for suitable doctors, hairdressers, and those products, which I used to take without looking at the store near the house.
Another difficulty of emigration is the feeling of melancholy. They ate not by country, but by people who remained at home. For those who leave alone or with company, it is easier to survive this moment. But even they begin to yearn, as they quickly realize that communication via instant messengers cannot replace long conversations in the kitchen, walks together, and especially the opportunity to hug a loved one.