Our Treasure Trove; Hobby Alcove
(This is "our niche")
(This is "our niche")
Being an expat can be very exciting, but can also be lonely,moreso if you are alone; a single person with no accompanying family...So luckily for me and hubs we have each other :)
Imagine being in a country where everything is different: language, food, culture, etc... Oftentimes, you will find it frustrating and would be quick to say that it is boring or lonely here as compared to being in the US for example where there are more "kababayans"(esp. in California)...
But life is not boring here, it's just that life is different here...Being the "new kid on the block", you realize that the things,comforts and enjoyments that you have been so accustomed to back home are no longer there.You are no longer surrounded by friends who would share your same sense of humor. (Haaay, I sure miss good ol' pinoy punchlines!) You are no longer home, where you have mastered every "rule" (spoken or unspoken). In your home country you are in control;you can pick-up and respond to the subtle cues of every situation...
Hence it helps if you are able to redefine your concept of happiness...To explore new things,new adventures.Enjoy the place for what it offers (travel all of Europe every weekend or Shop till you drop at 5pm, hahaha, got carried away there, just giving hubs the scare)...
They say that: "People are happy when they are "in control", that is, when they feel competent to satisfy their needs and reach their goals". It's quite a contradiction for some, because they would assert that happiness should not be forced or planned and being happy is just, well, being.
But as an O.C. (hahah!), I agree with this. It doesn't mean that being happy should be "if-fy", but rather having control on situations that can't be changed :)
You can only be happy if you are not frustrated(uh-huh!)...A favorite example for most: coming from Pinas, where majority consider "malling" as as a favorite leisure activity, one will somehow be frustrated upon knowing the limited store hours here. At first, I was. I'm not a mallrat,but I'd rather do my shopping errands at a later part of the day when it's not too hot. But I should say I should have been prepared, because it's quite common-knowledge that Europe has different or should we say "lesser" work hours than the rest of the globe...Their emphasis on leisure includes everybody and not just the so-called overworked-need-to-relax blue-collars or the shopping-frenetic rich :) Hence to whine about this and to dismiss it as absurd, will only make me frustrated all the more...Actually it's not absurd, it's just how it is with their culture. On the contrary, if I tell them about how our stores are open till 9pm and even on Sundays, they would give me a "get-out-of-here-you-must-be-kidding-me" baffled look...They could not understand the need to keep stores open that long...I bet somewhere in the Philippines, a Dutch expat is whining about how life is so hurried and so crazy in the busy Filippijnen :)
Or, having been used to spending weekends with the family, our quiet weekends here can once in a while send me a pang of pining for home :) I have a big capacity to be happy but it would be quite unbelievable to say I've never had my bouts with homesickness :) (Mic test, ok: "I'm not your superwoman"...heheh)
So, here are 7 helpful tips from the "expert" to cope up with homesickness:
1. Learn as much as you can about the culture- Embrace the good,leave out the bad :) Learn to swim in the "new" sea you are in. Experiment on new habits and change old ones :)
2. Keep an open mind- bear in mind that you are in a new country and that "your way" is not the "only way",it just happens to be the familiar and comfortable way :) Study the culture and don't be too quick to generalize on a particular trait as a foible. A sense of humor helps a lot.
3. Develop a routine- At first, everything can go haywire. Create a daily framework and from there build new friendships :)
4. Get enough daylight- Right now it's not a problem, because the sun sets between 9-10pm
Imagine being in a country where everything is different: language, food, culture, etc... Oftentimes, you will find it frustrating and would be quick to say that it is boring or lonely here as compared to being in the US for example where there are more "kababayans"(esp. in California)...
But life is not boring here, it's just that life is different here...Being the "new kid on the block", you realize that the things,comforts and enjoyments that you have been so accustomed to back home are no longer there.You are no longer surrounded by friends who would share your same sense of humor. (Haaay, I sure miss good ol' pinoy punchlines!) You are no longer home, where you have mastered every "rule" (spoken or unspoken). In your home country you are in control;you can pick-up and respond to the subtle cues of every situation...
Hence it helps if you are able to redefine your concept of happiness...To explore new things,new adventures.Enjoy the place for what it offers (travel all of Europe every weekend or Shop till you drop at 5pm, hahaha, got carried away there, just giving hubs the scare)...
They say that: "People are happy when they are "in control", that is, when they feel competent to satisfy their needs and reach their goals". It's quite a contradiction for some, because they would assert that happiness should not be forced or planned and being happy is just, well, being.
But as an O.C. (hahah!), I agree with this. It doesn't mean that being happy should be "if-fy", but rather having control on situations that can't be changed :)
You can only be happy if you are not frustrated(uh-huh!)...A favorite example for most: coming from Pinas, where majority consider "malling" as as a favorite leisure activity, one will somehow be frustrated upon knowing the limited store hours here. At first, I was. I'm not a mallrat,but I'd rather do my shopping errands at a later part of the day when it's not too hot. But I should say I should have been prepared, because it's quite common-knowledge that Europe has different or should we say "lesser" work hours than the rest of the globe...Their emphasis on leisure includes everybody and not just the so-called overworked-need-to-relax blue-collars or the shopping-frenetic rich :) Hence to whine about this and to dismiss it as absurd, will only make me frustrated all the more...Actually it's not absurd, it's just how it is with their culture. On the contrary, if I tell them about how our stores are open till 9pm and even on Sundays, they would give me a "get-out-of-here-you-must-be-kidding-me" baffled look...They could not understand the need to keep stores open that long...I bet somewhere in the Philippines, a Dutch expat is whining about how life is so hurried and so crazy in the busy Filippijnen :)
Or, having been used to spending weekends with the family, our quiet weekends here can once in a while send me a pang of pining for home :) I have a big capacity to be happy but it would be quite unbelievable to say I've never had my bouts with homesickness :) (Mic test, ok: "I'm not your superwoman"...heheh)
So, here are 7 helpful tips from the "expert" to cope up with homesickness:
1. Learn as much as you can about the culture- Embrace the good,leave out the bad :) Learn to swim in the "new" sea you are in. Experiment on new habits and change old ones :)
2. Keep an open mind- bear in mind that you are in a new country and that "your way" is not the "only way",it just happens to be the familiar and comfortable way :) Study the culture and don't be too quick to generalize on a particular trait as a foible. A sense of humor helps a lot.
3. Develop a routine- At first, everything can go haywire. Create a daily framework and from there build new friendships :)
4. Get enough daylight- Right now it's not a problem, because the sun sets between 9-10pm
Enjoying daily dose of D's
(My favorite part of the house, the "sunroom")
(My favorite part of the house, the "sunroom")