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[Chevy]

For those of you who have lived in a country other than the country of your origin for a substantial period of time, what was the biggest adjustment for you? Was it work? Accommodations? Cuisine?

[lava]

Although I haven't lived in another country other than America, I have talked to some people who have come to America from other countries.  Many have expressed their surprise at how provocative young girls dress and the crazy TV shows we watch.  They are also surprise at the level of violence in some city schools and the lack of respect children have towards authority.   

[Lisette]

I lived and worked in Switzerland for 5 years.  Not a country that had been on my radar previously but the opportunity came about through a merger.  We liked it there and probably were not that many 'adjustments'.  The accommodation was quite different - we moved from a large house to an apartment - but this was just part of the adventure.  I think for US colleagues accommodation is a bigger shock since they are used to much more space - the space difference was noticeable from the UK to Switzerland so much bigger gap from US to Switzerland.  For me, this is all part of the learning of living in a different country.  Only 1 thing that I missed in terms of food - the ability to get fresh skimmed milk for my tea (yes, I am very British!).  The other culture shock thing was that this is a German speaking country and in times of crisis the language barrier can be quite distressing (my car broke down and it was far more traumatic than it would have been in the UK).  My husband and I both loved it there so clearly the shock was not too great.  When I returned to the UK I had to 'readjust' all over again.

The only other really significant this is that when you do not know your way around a country (and this is especially true when there is a language barrier as well) things cost more.  Bit like being on holiday.  We were pretty philosophical about this - just saw it as part of the transition - but I do know that some people can get a bit irked by this.