#Expat Life

[sharksandjays]

one thing people dont seem to understand about TCKs is that we…dont have a home.

Because to me, home is always the last place i live. Just when i come to think of it as home, im ripped from it and expected to deal with the grief as ive done every time, in silence.

Yeah, im happy in my new “home” but i miss home. and the home before that. and the home before that. and the home before that. and the home before that. and the home before that. and the home before that.

no matter what, ill always yearn for a home that i will never be able to return to.

[japanwords]

How to REALLY make friends in Japan

On breaking out of the "gaijin bubble"

Recently I published my second article on Medium, in the publication Japonica (if you're interested in Japanese culture, check them out, there's some excellent stuff there).

My article is about a subject very dear to my heart. Namely, making friends in a new city.

More specifically, making friends in Japan. It takes a while, but it can be done! In the article I explain how.

[porloquevivoyo]

Being an American national hearing American music everywhere I go is wild to me. I mean like we don’t listen to Dutch music in the states at Walmart 😂😂🤣

Also a lot of reggaeton blasting from peoples cars (not Dutch usually tho 😅) and the more “hip” stores like foot locker makes me proud to be 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷

[yvrm]

I love the madness of seeing wet paint create magic before my eyes. Great vibrant vibe with the red!

[steveneveral]

Fast Food For Thought...(13 April 2024)

"Too many people are looking for the right person and not being the right person."

I was looking through some of my older posts on here from 2019 and came across that quote I had reposted.

As I thought about it, the more I realized that while I may have reposted that, I didn't remember it and take it to heart.

I have been too preoccupied with looking for the right person and not being that "right person". Your personality is really who you attract and I may not have been attracting the right people as of late.

Try being the best person you can be first. Once you do that, the "right" person will find you.

I've known this all along, maybe I should start putting it into practice.

[elenasparks1305]

So this year I managed to get pictures of the sakura blossoms

[tokyo-gremlin]

living abroad... I don't know how anyone survived without the updated Google translate

[mesmemos]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5k_g-l2-O0

[readyfortigers]

Just gave someone train directions. Reckon, I'm a right Londoner now.

[laidbackmarco]

Drowning in Responsibility Turning 30 Time to be an Adult

When you’re a kid the weekend is for toiling the free time you have away. As you age up in the world, you also want to avoid weekends. Menial chores and adult responsibilities consume weekends. Although I’m on my grind to make 2024 a great year, I spent Saturday setting up a parking space for my car. I made my last post emotional, do emotional men have a place in this world? Growing up I’ve…

[japanwords]

The Unique Challenges of Renting in Japan — Part 3

Part 3: Dealing with application process

Do you love bureaucracy? Do you love getting hit with weird little charges that no-one told you about before?

If so, why not try renting an apartment in Japan?

All joking aside, Japanese apartments are generally great. If you're planning on staying in Japan for the long-haul I'd recommend renting. It probably will take longer than you're used to though, so to warn other ex-pats I put together this how-to guide on Medium. It ended up being so long that the publishers split it into 3 parts. Here's the last part.

[atotaltaitaitale]

.

I have two type of friends.

Those who have been expats.

And those who haven’t.

How do I recognize them?

Message on my phone

The first category will message me on WhatsApp, WeChat (if still in China), Facebook messenger, Instagram DM or any voice-over-IP app, but never ever on phone message because they know that they are not sure where in the world you might be and how much it could cost you to receive a SMS or god forbid a MMS.

The second category… I’m trying to educate them because I always think it’s a serious (business?) matter when I see the little red dot next to the SMS message.

[emotionalsupportmanteau]

Home

[sorry-i-was-bored]

I WAS PRANKED!!! 😱 | Moving to Norway: My Story and Experience 🇳🇴

[daedrabela]

My life plan at 20-21 was to move countries by 25. My first choice was Norway, but over the years I've been more open to other places. I'm 24 now and nowhere closer to my goal because I lost several jobs and had to use my savings to survive. Is there anywhere else I should consider more than the others? (This poll won't determine where I go, but whether or not I consider a specific country more seriously)

[steveneveral]

What are you looking for? (10 March 2024)

What are you looking for?

That's a question a friend asked me after I related some stories of my dating life over some drinks.

To be honest, I didn't know how to answer that question at that moment. But it did get me thinking: What am I looking for in a partner?

Dating can always seem like an arduous task of separating the wheat from the chaff, and there's a ton of chaff out there. It feels great to meet someone you have a lot of things in common with, but you do have to do a lot of searching to find that person.

Like anything in life, anything worthwhile takes a lot of work. It's easy to just give up and throw in the towel, but who knows the opportunities that you may have thrown away by giving up. I didn't get to this point in my life by just giving up.

But back to the question my friend asked me: What am I looking for in a partner?

Of course, I'm looking for all the main things in a partner: Common values, respect, courtesy, being a good person, etc...

But if I'm really going to find a great person, I really have to think about what else I want in someone.

I can't answer those questions now, but it is something I have to keep thinking about as I move forward. More to come.