Fitting In While Living Abroad

From Reach Out

No matter how long you've lived abroad and even if you've married a local, speak the language, or gotten citizenship, you may still be perceived as an outsider. When I lived in China I worked with a white American woman who spoke fluent Chinese, yet there were Chinese people that refused to acknowledge that she could speak Chinese. They'd look at her, see that she wasn't Chinese, and refuse to understand. Kind of like this video of foreigners speaking Japanese in Japan.

Fitting in a work is another matter. The Marmot's Hole has an article about being treated like equals in Korea at work. The Chronicle also wrote about how foreign professors can have a hard time fitting in. Some people say that foreigners should be treated differently and others think they should be treated like locals. One thing's for sure and that's foreigners are different than locals.

Amazon has a number of good books with tips on living abroad. Here are some more articles about living abroad and fitting in.

• Dealing with culture shock
• Learning the local lingo
• Tips for living in a foreign country