John

John is American, he worked as a Congressional staffer in Washington D.C for 12 years and met his wife Adeline, from France when she was a post doc at NASA Goddard institute : “ I had a fantastic career in D.C in the Congress, and Adeline received an offer for another post doc in Germany. By an interesting twist of unexpected faith, the member of the Congress I was working for lost his election at the same time. After talking to her and people in D.C we decided to put her career first.”

Reactions from John's relatives and friends were very positive and very supportive about their decision. “I always talk to people for every decisions... Why not? (laughs). For most of my colleagues and friends the consensus was : it's a great idea. At this stage of my life, why not following my heart, why not going to Europe and see what is outside of Washington and the U.S? My life was very connected to my job... I loved my job, but maybe it was time to see something else. My friends were very supportive, my family was very supportive... The general idea was : Go for it.”

Adaptation to the new country had some challenges, but it was not the first experience abroad for John. John and Adeline moved to Europe and got married in France. “For me transitioning to Europe was very interesting, as there were the cultural changes, the linguistic changes... Moving from the U.S which is a primarily English-based country to Germany where my world was a constant mixture of three languages, this mixture of English, German and French it was just that [at the beginning]. Also the shift from being a very career-focused person who constantly had a meeting, constantly had something to do for work, not being able to focus on something else for myself, I was able to just focus on myself and accomplished things I didn't do before. I took courses at the university, I got certified in German, I learned French... I accomplished myself a lot. In many ways it was amazing, I had a great experience. I wanted to know more about the world, I wanted the chance to travel and live in Europe, and study more languages, so I got French end German under my belt now, and I wanted to go back to some academic setting, take some classes and see how that worked. The German and the US system don't lineup at all, but I was comfortable with that.”

“Face-time was an amazing thing for my family and I to keep contact, so we would talk and have live conversations from time to time, but we already lived far from each other in the US. They are retired in Wisconsin and I lived for a long time in DC, so long-distance relationship was something we were used to. There was a lot more time difference but the dynamic was almost the same. I guess the impact was not the same for my wife and her family when she moved from France... Also I already lived abroad before I met my her. I went to South America after I graduated right after college. I lived in a family in Argentina and I served in the US Peace Corps in Africa for some time. I don't think of myself as a traveler like some people do, the ones who are constantly going from one place to another... I don't wake up every morning thinking about where would I go next time, but if some opportunity present itself, I feel comfortable enough to take it. I'm used to move.”

“Coming back to the US, there is always something they call the reverse cultural shock, which is about the little things you forget... this can be anything like cereals... sugar! (laughs). My wife told me about her own experience when she came back to France and I had it too...You have this realization that you understand so much more subtleties. You reconnect to your native language, you can be less direct than when you live abroad. Living in Europe for a while and using public transportation and coming back in the US, especially in car cultured area like L.A is quite a change.”

John has more profound words when he explains how his experience in different countries impacted his life: “It always reminds you how much of the world is... And you understand that your world is based on your own culture, and how much of your life and your thoughts are tied to an individual language. So there are many concepts which are completely embedded in whatever your native language, your family or your country's language is. And when you move that in an international context, you realize that maybe those concepts are not the same at all... And you are constantly running in to it. It's both interesting and fascinating because you are never 100% sure about the subtle differences. As you begin to learn them, you begin to see how complex the world is. There is a quote from Shakespeare that says : There is more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. The basic line is living abroad makes you realize how much you don't know.”

Created By
Christophe Marcade
Appreciate

Credits:

Christophe Marcade

Report Abuse

If you feel that this video content violates the Adobe Terms of Use, you may report this content by filling out this quick form.

To report a Copyright Violation, please follow Section 17 in the Terms of Use.