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After working in 4 different international places, I came back to my hometown, the third biggest city of France. Most people I meet were born here. Not only, bu
by aragot 12y ago
After working in 4 different international places, I came back to my hometown, the third biggest city of France. Most people I meet were born here. Not only, but they've never moved, never been unrooted. When you live in a left-driving country, you almost have to switch your brain hemispheres, and I can't enphasize that enough. Everything that sounded like a given to you, will be switched around, when you learn a third of the world drives on the left.
When you work on the top floor of a building with a view on the skyline, you know that having power and being a cog are the same thing.
When you've shaken hands with refugees who did succeed to land on Christmas Island (find Christmas Island on a map and you'll get it), you can't help wondering how many have fallen for your own life. People ask me why I came back home, I don't have an answer, apart from maybe having seen enough to be a little creative about life, career or politics.
On finding a partner. The problem is connecting with a soulmate here back home, people who have always been surrounded by a social fabric.
On politicians. How do you govern a country when you've never experienced other systems yourself?
- jtheory 12y agoI like your point about politicians; of course, in the US, if you've spent too much time abroad (or good god, if anyone even things you might have been born abroad), much of the populace will mistrust you because of it. About driving: as of the Rwanda trip, I've now finally driven in all 4 possible combinations of right/left-hand steering wheel and right/left-hand traffic. There's definitely a mental strain, at first; and when I first tried driving on the "wrong" side, it took intense concentration. But by now I've driven vans and moving trucks on the "wrong" side, and it's gotten easy -- which of course alienates me from "regular" people who are often deathly scared of even trying. I'm not someone with driving abilities worth bragging about (and just yesterday almost killed my car because I forgot basic maintenance for too long), or unusually courageous; I've just had experiences that have changed me in this way.