What It's Really Like To Move Abroad

A different way of life

Beacons you to join

Leave behind the world you knew

Take on this challenge

Should you accept,

Know that you will never be the same

You change, learn, adapt

The clothes you brought with you

Make you stand out

Like some misinformed stranger

So you go to the store

Nothing looks quite right

The fabrics don't feel like the ones back home

You look at yourself in the mirror

Dressed in unfamiliar hues

Do you like her?

You're unsure

But you like what's happening

In your new shoes

Walking down the street

An old woman approaches

Starts to speak to you in her native tongue

The words barely register

As you fill with pride

Knowing that someone has mistaken you

As one of them

In the mirror

You begin to forget the woman

You once were

Who is the foreigner now?

You feel mercurial

Through ups and downs

It's not all peaches and cream, honey

Your tongue struggles to form the words

That are necessary

To hide your unfamiliarity

Only once you make friends

Do you feel truly at home

At once you do

You can't imagine living

Anywhere else

Thanks for reading! I have lived abroad three times in my life and I am forever changed by those experiences. I cannot wait until I can go back to the land where I truly feel at home. May you all find the place that makes your heart sing.