What do you pack?
Roberto Di Marco was born in addition to grew up in Rome, Italy. He attended a liceo in Rome, earning degrees in philosophy, psychology, criminology in addition to forensic psychiatry. Roberto has worked as a teacher for handicapped children, taught literature in secondary school in addition to history in addition to philosophy in high school. by 1982 to 1989, he was a lecturer inside Department of Neurological Science in an Italian University in addition to has also worked as a counselor for couples in addition to the mentally ill. To research an anthology of expat life, Roberto lived six months in Cebu inside Philippines in addition to two years in Phuket in Thailand. In 2014, Orchid Press published Roberto’s What Do You Pack If You Are Never Coming Back, a compilation of 15 true stories of expats who left their past behind to start a brand new life in a foreign country.
What do you think motivates people to move to another country to live in addition to work?
People often have very established habits in addition to need a strong motivation to leave their country. The most common reason to make a radical geographical change is usually a desire to improve their economic conditions. although there are many various other reasons: to move by a rich country to a poor country where their money is usually worth more; men looking for wives in addition to lovers; the increased economic power in which offers a greater choice; the allure of a more temperate climate; the attraction of a more natural way of life, free by constraints in addition to formalities. A minority, mostly dissatisfied artists in addition to writers, are interested in discovering brand new dimensions in their lives. Bali, for example, is usually more suited to the artist than to the business person.
Why does living abroad change us?
Knowledge of different countries in addition to brand new ways of life helps people become masters of their fate in addition to not a victim of the system. At home, each of us exists in a limited environment, confined to only what we can see in addition to experience in our immediate surroundings, i.e. what our neighbours, friends in addition to co-workers are doing. We all think in which in which is usually normal in addition to perhaps even the best way of living. although often we want something more, sometimes without even realizing the idea.
Which Asian countries are the most favourable for expats to live in?
I personally like busy international tourist centres like Bali in Indonesia in addition to Phuket in Thailand where you find fantastic nature in addition to eternal summer although also services for people by all over the earth. In these places you find a different way of life, yet you are able to enjoy almost all the habits in addition to comforts found in your home country. In countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Philippines in addition to in northern Thailand, an expat can live for less than 1,000 Euros per month. In a town or area with few expats in addition to tourists, you can live even cheaper.
Can you give examples by your book of expats who have made successful lives for themselves overseas?
I always liked the story of a Spanish man who was leading a boring life in Spain as a clerk, then he became a seaplane pilot inside Philippines, which — to say the very least — opened up brand new vistas for him. Another story is usually about a man who was chased by the mafia in addition to ended up in Bali.
What are the best practices in addition to attitudes to have to make a success of living abroad?
Be open to changing your habits, don’t judge others in addition to don’t be inflexible in your opinions. Take the opportunity to test yourself in unknown situations. Try to understand different ways of seeing in addition to thinking. Visit places various other than those in which you can meet your fellow countrymen. Many compatriots meet often inside same places, which predictably just recreate in an overseas setting the lives in which they lived in their home country. in which is usually understandable. We all want a sense of belonging in a familiar group, although the idea’s also important to be part of the culture of ‘the various other’, to come in contact with different people by various other countries in addition to walks of life. in which doesn’t mean of course in which you have to renounce your identity or accept blindly everything in which is usually culturally brand new.
What are the most important steps an expat should take after arriving in his or her adopted country?
Get as much information as possible beforehand on the brand new country’s culture, customs, health services, retirement life, tax laws, visas, ways to save money, etc. the idea’s important to know what kind of dangers exist, such as risks of disease or criminality, as well as which areas in addition to neighborhoods are safe to live in. Expat blogs are especially not bad for tips in addition to useful information for those who want to fit in. Studying the language of the adopted country will make the idea a pleasure to mix with the locals, so buy a dictionary in addition to phrasebook.
What are the most frequent causes of an expat’s failed attempts to live abroad?
Sometimes expats behave as if they are still in their own country, ignoring the rules in addition to what is usually acceptable behaviour in their adopted country. Often conf licts occur in mixed marriages, for example when a Catholic marries a Muslim. I know of one instance in which an Egyptian married to an Italian woman took his 12-year-old daughter on vacation to his country where he forced her to undergo a clitoridectomy. His wife was outraged in addition to asked for a divorce. currently the daughter does not want to see him, is usually burdened which has a serious identity crisis, acts like a male in addition to eats pork in defiance of the Muslim religion.
Marrying a Filipina, Javanese or a Thai woman may mean in which relatives in addition to friends will be frequently visiting or living in your home, which may require you to sacrifice privacy. Expats may have to reconcile the sense of community in which an African or Asian wife feels with the individualism in which a European prizes. For an English person, family difficulties are resolved in private, although for an Ethiopian the idea is usually normal to involve relatives in addition to friends inside resolution of family problems. Will your African or Asian spouse be amenable to a Westerner’s tendency to criticize everything? would likely he or she be willing to become passive in order to keep the peace?
Are there any not bad movies about expat life?
The film The Song of Carla is usually an eye opener for those thinking of marrying someone by a different culture. inside course of hero Ken Loach falling in love in addition to taking a journey into the unknown world of his partner, he is usually swept up inside political cause of her people.
So, what do you pack when you go to live in a brand new country?
An Italian-English dictionary as well as an Italian-whateverlanguage- of-the-brand new-country dictionary. I also carry books on a wide variety of subjects about the adopted country.
How can you be contacted?
Email me at robydimarco@yahoo.com, or visit or visit my website www.bobdimarco.com
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What do you pack?
What do you pack?