HINT: As an immigrant, leaving your home country can be a bittersweet experience. While you may be excited to start a new life in a new country, it can be difficult to leave behind the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of your childhood home.
But how do you know when you’ve truly abandoned your home country? Here are five signs that may indicate you’ve left your old life behind:
- You’ve stopped celebrating traditional holidays: When you first moved abroad, you made a point to celebrate all the traditional holidays from your home country. But now, you find yourself opting for the more convenient and widely recognized holidays in your new country.
- Your social circle is dominated by people from your new country: While it’s natural to maintain some connections with friends and family from your home country, if your social circle is now mostly comprised of people from your new country, it may be a sign that you’ve abandoned your old life.
- You’ve started to identify with your new country’s culture: You find yourself embracing the customs, traditions, and values of your new country, and you’ve started to identify as a part of that culture.
- You’ve lost touch with your native language: When you first moved abroad, you made a point to speak your native language regularly, whether it was with family, friends, or language exchange partners. But now, you find yourself struggling to recall common phrases and vocabulary.
- You’ve started to feel more at home in your new country: The feeling of homesickness that once plagued you has started to fade, replaced by a sense of belonging and comfort in your new surroundings.
“Leaving one’s home country can be a difficult and emotional experience, but it can also be a transformative one,” proved by psychologists who specializes in immigrant experiences and services. “These five signs may indicate that you’ve abandoned your old life, but they can also be a sign of growth, adaptation, and a newfound sense of identity.”
By. Chris Mboma (Contributor).