An Insight in to a Teenage Expat's Life
There are many expats stories on the internet, showing an insight in to the lives of people who have moved abroad. However, there are very few stories of the life of teen expatsn available, because although there are many teen expats living all over the world, there prospectives are very rarely seen. Life as a teen expat can be a great experience for many young people and it is interesting to hear how their life differs when they relocate abroad. The difficulties that adults face when they first move abroad, differ from the things that younger people face when they are living in a foreign country. On the other hand, the way that teenagers and children settle in to life in a foreign country is different from the way that adults settle in.
Although the opinions and views of child or teen expats is considered to be less important, often teens and children have many interesting views on living abroad. There are many advantages to living abroad, especially for teenagers and children. Living in a different country gives them the oppurtunity to learn a new culture, language and broadens their minds. it is common for children to initially dislike living in a foreign country where everything is new and unknown to them, but they quickly learn to settle in and really enjoy life abroad.
Quest Greek islands got to speak to an anonymous teen expat and this is what they said:
"When I first came to Greece, I really enjoyed the new life and the new experiences that I experienced each day. To begin with, it was like an extended holiday, but when reality hits you that you have to settle in, learn the language and make this new place your home, it can become very daunting. The language, as many other expats living in Greece will agree, is a very difficult language to grasp and so I knew that I had to buckle down and learn the language before I could start making a life here or make any friends. This wasn't really that case, because as I later discovered, you don't have to be fluent in Greek to make friends. I made many friends after just a few months of living here, and they enjoyed helping me with learning Greek and in exchange I helped them with their English. Little by little I began to pick up the language and it made me feel a lot more comfortable about living in Greece. In the beginning, I thought that making friends and settling in to life in Greece would be really difficult, but it was suprisingly quite easy. Living in Greece has really opened my mind to what living in another country and learning a new culture is like. Going to school in Greece really helped me to meet friends and settle in, but I also meet new people when I am out and about. It can be a little bit frightening when you move to a foreign country, there are so many different things to get used to. There is a language barrier than seems worse than what it is, then there is the different culture, different cuisine, different music and so on. On the whole. I am glad that I moved to Greece because I really enjoy my life here and I have loved experiencing this new life, and although it hasn't always been easy, I think it has definitely been worth it!"