🧑‍🎓 Things as an ex-pat

Unravelling the subtle nuances of the international student experience, covering both the positive and negative aspects.

🥷🏻 About me...

Yup, I'm currently pursuing a full-time Master's degree in Management in Lille, France.

Returning to education as a mature student with ~3 years of work experience in the tech industry, to study how businesses operate firsthand seems slightly counter-productive. However, come May 2023 I'll be completing my Master 1 in MiM.

So when I first took the decision of doing my Masters after 3 years of my bachelor's, everyone around me gave me a weird look. My close acquaintances were like -

"Oh no! The job market is volatile now. Do you really need to leave your job?"

"Recession is ahead, you might be jobless forever"

But I decided to take that risk.

Sometimes life is about risking everything for a vision no one can see but you!

🤯 Cultural Shock

Enough of me ranting about my life. Now let's get into action. The premier thing one goes through when moving to a new place is Cultural Shock. Looks like a fancy term, right?

Culture shock is the personal disorientation one may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. Working or studying in an environment with people from all over the country, I was a little afraid of the newness, and when I encounter a new place I tend to concentrate on how it may be different to what I know and the real shock came later when I tried to recreate patterns of behaviour from home and college, and later realised that it might not work well in a new place.

Trust me, the initial months are the best that you could ever ask for. You enjoy the newness. I call it the honeymoon phase. It's like getting into a new relationship. New food. New environment. New people.

But as months as pass by, things can get pretty messy. Reality hits you hard. That's because you are not on a trip or a short tour. You realise that you are gonna spend the rest of the months here. In fact, this gets worse if you are in a country where you don't speak their language.

As there is no true way to entirely prevent culture shock, as individuals in any society are personally affected by cultural contrasts differently, I am now consciously putting myself into a position to become aware of the space around me with no filter but with curiosity and make myself to arrive at culture comfort.

Is this something that happens only in a new place? Hell NO.

People face cultural shock in a new country, in a new workplace and apparently, it's the highest after marriage, especially for women.

🧑‍🎓 Life Lessons as an ex-pat

With said that, a few stuff that I experience as an International student.

1. Saying NO - This can be quite intimidating for some as I can empathise with a lot. I always feel like saying no to something or someone can be rude and henceforth I always go by what others say. But this made me more tired and live others' life rather mine. For instance, if someone invites me to a party I would rather go and would not like to be a buzz kill even though I am super tired. But after quite a while I started to say no to a lot of things which I feel like not doing it. Yes, it can sound rude sometimes and even harsh to some people but it really helped me in making my life better.

2. Self-realisation - I came to know what I am good at and what I am not. I was great at keeping my room clean and cosy but I failed miserably in managing time. I never knew I was such a great cook cause I have never been to the kitchen. But when you start living alone, you need to cut, cook, and do your dishes, and I was surprised to know that I can actually cook something that's tasty.

3. Finding happiness - This can be pretty silly but when you discover the lost pair of socks, invent a new dish, or make a perfect round-shaped dosa/roti, you will start to enjoy finding happiness in little things.

4. Figuring out things - There is a lot of stuff that you need to figure out by yourself when you live as an ex-pat. Find a nice accommodation, figure out electricity, manage bank accounts, pay your bills/rent etc.

tl;dr - Living alone is definitely an art of independence and it makes you know more about yourself.