What is an Expat?
Expats, not to be confused with immigrants, are people living/working outside of their native country or country of citizenship. Due to the nature of this, Living as an expat typically comes with additional vulnerability to mental and physical health problems. This post will walk you through ways to minimize these problems associated with living as an expat, as well as explore some other common issues expats experience.
Health Insurance
First and foremost, health insurance. When abroad in a foreign country, having solid healthcare is super important for your safety. Public healthcare can be a great option for emergencies, but getting scheduled treatment can be a pain. Private healthcare can help you with not only current illnesses, but also prevention from any future problems you might encounter when away from home. To get a quote for private health insurance, simply visit insbrok.com.
Social Life
Secondly, get a guide, join a club, and try your best to make friends in your new country. Learning about a new culture can help make you feel more at home, as well as minimize culture shock. Getting accustomed to your new country is an essential part of feeling comfortable as an expat. Finding people who have similar interests as you is the easiest way to go about doing this, so don’t be shy!
Health and Wellbeing
Thirdly, don’t forget to prioritize your mental and physical health. It can be super easy to miss meals and neglect your own mental health when adjusting to new culture and a new schedule. Getting too caught up in work can make it incredibly hard to find time to give yourself the proper food, and care that your body needs. Whether it be getting a membership to a gym, or keeping a diary to write down what energizes you, or what upsets you. Having these little things can make it that much easier for you to improve your mind, body, and soul when living in a country away from home.
Language Barriers
Not knowing the host language can make your stay abroad immensely difficult. This is one of the main problems experienced abroad, as it makes even the simplest of tasks extremely tough. For example, trying to use public transport, order at a restaurant, or even getting groceries becomes a challenge. With that being said, not knowing the language excludes you from a lot of different opportunities and great experiences. Learning the host language is not something that comes easy, so, make sure to start studying early to prepare for your time abroad.
Tips for learning your new language:
- Take risks, speak the language as much as you can despite your lack of fluency.
- This part is extremely intimidating when you’re not comfortable with the language. However, this step is crucial in bettering your knowledge of the host language.
- Consume media from the foreign country (I.E. social media, newspaper, books)
- You would be surprised how much listening to music, podcasts, audio books does for you as a non-native speaker. Even if you don’t understand everything being said, which you probably won’t, just listening will subconsciously give you a much better understanding going forward.
- Force yourself to get immersed in the local culture.
- Once again, this step is extremely intimidating when visiting a foreign country. However, this step will greatly improve your understanding and confidence, and overall is really the only way to feel more like a local in your new country.
- Don’t worry about making mistakes or coming off as a foreigner.
- Mistakes are inevitable when learning a new language, or trying to get an understanding of a new culture. Practice really does make perfect and there is not much you can do to avoid making mistakes. But, it’s okay as people you meet and talk to are often nicer than you believe. No one is going to publicly embarrass you or put you on display for not having the perfect accent or correct vocabulary. More often than not, they will embrace and appreciate you for taking the time to try and learn their culture.
Being Homesick
Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to stay in touch with your friends, family, and loved ones back home. The time difference, new experiences, and change in lifestyle makes it astonishingly easy to go days, weeks, or even months without contacting those you spent every day with back home. Despite them being far away, those are still the people who know you the best and care about you the most and it’s important not to forget that when living away from home.
