It's becoming easier/more difficult to experience being an outsider | Hacker News Reader

It's becoming easier/more difficult to experience being an outsider

economist.com

40 pointsebun10 comments

Did Descartes really die of _cold_? http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/14/rene-descartes-p...

Sad, there disappeared my native Sweden's single major contribution to philosophy... :-)

So they mentioned artists and philosophers as foreigners, what about entrepreneurs? I wonder...

As someone who has just completed a contract with the Peace Corps in East Africa, its points ring strongly. How did I miss the article? Thanks for sharing.

> How did I miss the article? Thanks for sharing.

Ditto. Thanks for posting!

hmmm. it completely misses the possibility that there's a point when "ooo different" stops becoming fun / interesting and starts being a drag.

living in a foreign country means you never feel completely right. if you're on vacation, that's a pleasant change. for a lifetime it's not quite as much fun.

That really depends of people, I've spent almost one third of my life living in foreign countries and I don't really feel that it's a drag... And on the contrary to the article, I do feel that I belonged in the different cities I've lived... I do however tend to want to move after 3-4 years in one place, get the rush again from discovering a new place...

i'm sure it does depend on the person, and the circumstances, but i am a little sceptical of the idea that you can consistently, every 3 - 4 years, learn a new language + culture to the point where you're, say, able to discuss politics in an informed way without offending people, or make a joke (that people laugh at!) at a party...

It depends, if you are in europe and learned foreign languages as a kid, it's entirely possible...

Where I am now, in China and before Japan, indeed the language barrier is much higher and while I feel that I can speak well enough to both discuss politics and make jokes at a party (working in a company with no foreign speakers and talking in japanese all the time at home with my girlfriend helps). I'm still an illiterate and often feel the barrier of the language...

But, that didn't stop me from having a sense of belonging there or, now that I don't live there, to be also sometimes a bit homesick toward Japan...

3-4 years is a long time. Lots of foreigners here in Taiwan get to that point in half that time (though maybe they can't write Chinese by hand)

I'm a foreigner living in America for now. The article writer is probably too old to realise this, but Facebook is a huge factor in blunting the transformation from foreigner to 'exile'.

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