Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:37 pm Post subject: "Lifers"
Quite a few long-term expats in Japan actually hate living here. They complain about the living conditions, the sub-standard supermarkets, closed aspects of society and various other things. I've heard all of the rants.
When I studied in Thailand recently, I noticed that every long-termer I met absolutely loved it there and wouldn't trade it for anything else.
Did I miss the jaded folks when I was there? Is Japan an exception? What is it like in your other respective countries? Do you have cynical lifers too?
_________________ Wer tanzen will, muss die Musik bezahlen
Absolutley-In fact among many it has become a favorite passtime--to complain about various aspects of thailand.
having been here for 23 years I can say there can be a lot to complain about.. the positive aspects , however, greatly overshadow anything worth complaining about. _________________ Asia Expats Forum Expat Friends Dating
I can say from my personal experience that there are plenty of "lifers" around here in China too ...
I personally don't like ALL aspects of life here, but just like Mike said, the positives FAR outweigh the negatives.
Unfortunately a lot of expatriates here don't agree ... They tend to stay in their own "community" without ever exploring the outside, and when they do, they invariably criticize it ...
And of course, they expect all expats to live the "expat" lifestyle, which to be quite honest, is sometimes not possible, and something which I've never really quite done ...
We've been living in China for 2 years now, for the most part my time here has passed reasonably pleasant. There are times when I get really fed up with everything here, the food, the weather, the pollution, the spitting, the queue jumping, the rude people, the loud people, the opportunists who won't talk to you endless they want something from you... but somehow China still has something that pulls you and keeps you here. Recently my husband and I have been discussing the timing when we should head back, mainly for the kids' education. For us, we could easily stay for a while longer.
And for the expats here, most people we know are quite happy with their lives in China despite the moans and grumbles. Some have left then returned, some will settle here and others are just living for the day. So I guess overall China's not all that bad, for the time being anyway.
May be time to move on to the next country soon though ... Got a feeling things will start getting more expensive here shortly. Expat salaries have already been trimmed, and expat packages being replaced by a flat salary for the most part ...
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