International Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Your best IN memory or tip....
Hey ladies! We finally made it to the US after 49.5 hours of travel with an 8 month old. We had 1 cancellations and two extended delays. I'll tell the whole story later, but for now I needed your IN help.We are having a surprise party fOr my gf moving to Korea tomorrow and I want to use all of your funny memories, mishaps, tiPs, and whatnot to make here a small flipbook for her to take with her. Can you help me out ladies? Thanks!
Re: Your best IN memory or tip....
Tip-- it's a little zen, but stick with me... the good of America (I'm assuming she's American) isn't always as "good" as you remember (think DMV) kind of helps put the frustrations of where you are in perspective.
Tip 2-- enjoy the diversity. It's so cool that I can travel around here and go to entirely different restaurants every night, for example. Seriously, other than roadside food (yum yum), I'd be hard pressed to think of a chain restaurant in the entire country. That's pretty cool, IMO. Probably similar in most of Korea (maybe not Seoul).
Tip 3- thing of the cool things being a glorified tourist/expat allows you to do... you can have more courage than you might back home b/c you don't so much care "how you look" or have anyone to impress
Best IN memory-- IT has it's moments of stress, chaos, panic, and annoyance, but I overall love it. Why? Because the simplicity of things. I'm trying to learn IT, but am not very good. You'd be amazed what a happier person you are w/ limited language skills.
My favorite local restaurant owner and I "must" talk everytime we go in but he speaks 0 English and my IT sucks. But he just continues on. I get maybe, every 5th word, if I'm lucky. But he's always patient, always kind, & friendly. And when we talk, in return, we've no idea how to express anything other than "good... very good.. thank you... wonderful.. beautiful and have a good night". Makes you far more positive. People want to talk to you w/ a vocab like that! I've no idea how to say, "frustrated, annoyed, fed-up, pissy, depressed"... so those emotions just sort of disappear from your thoughts and certainly from your conversation.
It always makes me smile how simple things become w/o the stress/skills of a formal education.
I don't know, maybe I'm just fat, dumb, and happy, but I kind of like the liberation of only being able to express myself in a positive way!
Tip: Like someone else mentioned, don't be afraid to make language mistakes. People will respect your efforts
Memories: I barely spoke any French the first time I came here. When I would be shopping and someone came up to me to ask if I needed help, I not only did not respond in French, I didn't respond at all. I just stood there. like an idiot.
My husband would tell me that I should have responded in English (and he would be correct!) but I got so nervous that I just stood there frightened saying nothing. This actually lasted for quite a while before I finally stopped getting so nervous. I am not even shy! I don't know what my problem was!
My tip: learn all you can about the cultural/religious etiquette of your host country. Take cultural sensitivity training if it's available, but at the very least, do lots of research online. Also study up on the social attitudes of the citizens as a whole. For instance, I knew coming here that people like to cut in line and don't think anything of it. (When we were at immigration when we first arrived here, a guy actually tried to cut into the front of a line that was at least 20 people long.) That way I was prepared to stick up for myself; but I had to do in a diplomatic manner, since Singaporeans embarrass very easily if you call them out on their actions. They have what they call "kiasu," which literally means "fear of losing."
My memory: when we first arrived, we went out with a realtor looking for apartments. Before we met her, she ensured us that she had enough room in her SUV for 2 large car seats and 2 adults. Turns out that it was a mini-SUV (I'd actually call it a micro-SUV), and there was no way I'd be able to fit between the car seats. But she said she did have a seat in the very back. She took me back there, and it was kind of like a rumble seat. The floor popped up, and the seat was underneath. It was TINY, with nowhere to put my legs. So I had to sit there with my legs all bent up, knees in my face, and changing positions every couple of minutes so they wouldn't fall asleep. Meanwhile, the realtor had put in this CD of kids' songs to keep the kids somewhat entertained, but the music was so creepy sounding. They sung pretty classic kids' songs, but very differently. Even the ABC song was sung wrong. It was bizarre. She was a horrible driver, staying in her lane maybe 5% of the time. (I had to take my husband's word for it, since all I could see was my knees.) Plus, she kept calling me Fiona the entire day, which is pretty far from "Dana."
Tip: Utilize your co-teacher. Make an effort to become friends with them. Then they will introduce you to the culture, food and help translate things. Ask them about stuff that interest you in the culture (ie:bath houses, temples, meals, and holidays) then you will more than likely get an invitation to do something and really get the experience.
Memory: Not mine but DH's- he comes home from work to tell me, "Well an octopus crossed my path in front of of me on the way to work." Apparently the little guy escaped at the fish market.