Why do I feel like a foreigner in my home country?
It happened to me also, but in my case it was because I´ve lived in too many countries (5). So, when I got back to the country I was born and lived my first years, I felt really out of place, and I hated it.I guess you think differently. But that doesn’t mean you would feel at home some place else… Or maybe you haven’t been around enough. You are stuck with a community/ group of people, and maybe out there you can find somewhere you can call home.
How do you cope with feeling like a foreigner in your own country after living abroad?
forI am no expert in coping with the feeling of alienation. However, I have some experience in this field and I shall try to express as clearly and coherently as possible. I often felt quite alien to my own kind back in India, given the kind of person I was, and my interests and profession. Eventually I moved to Europe, where in some essential ways I felt belonged, only to realize in due time that I am very alien in several other essential ways to the culture and people. This sense of suspension is quite hard to grasp, let alone coping with it. On one hand I felt alien in my own country, and on the other, my second home was alien too. This brought me to the essential question of where, or what is home? The search for the answer to this question is an on-going one, but basically, home is something I had to find within me, not in the external surroundings. To separate my "self" from my surroundings, while being in it, being a part of it. It is quite a paradox in itself, but an inevitable phenomenon if you want to cope with the sense of alienation. To understand that your surroundings do not make you, even though they contribute to who you are to a certain extent. Fortunately for us, or unfortunately, the "I" is a constantly evolving entity. We are becoming into something new at every moment of our existence and we do not comprehend this until we are suspended out of our familiar context. And this is the source of feeling like a foreigner in your own country after a period of living abroad. This feeling can be quite daunting, as this is the first time one probably recognises that one has grown out of one's own familiar box. And it cannot be reversed!One thing that really helps to cope with this stress is to exercise kindness and compassion to one self. Now, this in itself is a big lesson to learn for some of us, but it is a worthwhile lesson for it comes to use practically at every new turn in life. So yes, it helps to be kind to oneself while one feels out of place on one's home ground. However, as one does that, it also helps to remember that all is not lost. We are only growing and expanding, while metamorphosing into newer selves. This means, our old self has merged into this new self, and it still exists in this new form. We have been blessed with a new perspective of looking at our old reality, a chance to look at ourselves more fully, one step closer to putting the jigsaw puzzle together. That can't be so bad, right? :) Hope this helped.
Why do I not feel "foreign" in my own country but do abroad?
Living abroad implies:A different language: Or worse, the same language has different expressions or words in different countries. As UK and US aborigines about it.Different uses: Dogs can enter in to a restaurant in Germany, but small children are not that welcome everywhere after 20:00hs.Different food: A Schnitzel is not the same in Germany, in Switzerland neither in Austria.Different history and context: Some things are assumed as known, and you don’t know them.Knobs at doors are different, doors open different. In Sweden (Scandinavia?) house doors open in outside direction.Expectations: Your employer has certain expectations, your landlord does, people at the street, stores, and parking lots do, and you are not sure how to accomplish that.It’s completely reasonable that you feel “foreign” in other countries.
Do you feel at home in any foreign country and why is that?
I moved to France when I was 48 years old and I feel like home here.The French are crazy but so am I.Stop and think about what ‘home’ means to you.is it where you are safe and in peace with yourself.Or is it a place where you have people around who share your history and know what you are talking about without too much explaining?the strange thing for me is that I feel at home in the US.Why is it strange? Because I am a Finn who has lived abroad for 20 years.The Us of A is abroad. Like no other country in the world it is the home for foreigners.France is not so bad, non plus. But his is my home now.