Adjusting to life outside the DR.

[AnnaC]

I read in one of the threads about the difficulties of adjusting when Dominicans move to another country. I think it might be helpful to others if we can get some insight to the problems of adjusting to life outside the DR.

This question goes out to all Dominicans that have made the move or their spouses.

1. What surprised you the most about your new country?
2. What was the biggest adjustment?
3. What myths did you discover?
4. Was it all you hoped it would be?
5. Have you adjusted to the cold weather ( if you moved to a cold climate)
6. Knowing what you know now, was the move a wise choice?

[thick_neck]

Answer to #6: No.

[suarezn]

Originally Posted by Anna Coniglio

I read in one of the threads about the difficulties of adjusting when Dominicans move to another country. I think it might be helpful to others if we can get some insight to the problems of adjusting to life outside the DR.

This question goes out to all Dominicans that have made the move or their spouses.

1. What surprised you the most about your new country?
2. What was the biggest adjustment?
3. What myths did you discover?
4. Was it all you hoped it would be?
5. Have you adjusted to the cold weather ( if you moved to a cold climate)
6. Knowing what you know now, was the move a wise choice?

1. Before I came here, my idea of The US was of cities like NY, Miami, etc...I think I really had no idea that most of the population in The US is rural in nature and there are tons of very small little towns, including the one I live in now.
2. All the laws here (can't buy beer after a cartain hour, bars close at 2:00 AM, can't drink in public, can't paint you house any color, can't drive a few miles over the limit...can't freakin' breathe...)
3. Americans don't bathe as often as Dominican (there's a little bit of truth to that, because of the weather)
4. Not really...
5. I can never adjust to the cold weather. Haven't been able to even after many years here.
6. I sometimes wonder. Financially, Yes. In other aspects, No.

[mariel]

1. - their organization.
- that doctors, dentists, and some offices have "telephone times" where you can call and ask for info or book an appointment, and if you call outside those times it's highly unlikely that you'll talk to the person in question.
- that they drive with the lights on ALL the time (that's new for me at least).

2. the cold climate, and at first the food and the water.

3. don't know if it can be considered a myth, but i learnt that the nationals/locals are *very* reserved and conscious of their space (as in if they talk to you they take their distance [physically] from you).

4. as of now, yes.

5. i'm on my way hehe i actually don't know if i will ever do it, tho.

6. i'd say yes.

[deelt]

While I do believe there are many adjustments regarding language, laws, educational system, advocacy, culture, etc. I don't think the real horror stories would be told here since I would venture to say that this audience is a little different than the one I often deal with, who are also the majority.

For those that brained drained out of DR, possess Eng. language skills and have validated their credentials in the US, from what I have seen, things are going very well for them. But it comes at the cost of a continued capacity loss to DR.

-D

Originally Posted by Anna Coniglio

I read in one of the threads about the difficulties of adjusting when Dominicans move to another country. I think it might be helpful to others if we can get some insight to the problems of adjusting to life outside the DR.

This question goes out to all Dominicans that have made the move or their spouses.

1. What surprised you the most about your new country?
2. What was the biggest adjustment?
3. What myths did you discover?
4. Was it all you hoped it would be?
5. Have you adjusted to the cold weather ( if you moved to a cold climate)
6. Knowing what you know now, was the move a wise choice?

[mariel]

oh yeah, i'm still adjusting to the language.

[trina]

Originally Posted by Anna Coniglio

I read in one of the threads about the difficulties of adjusting when Dominicans move to another country. I think it might be helpful to others if we can get some insight to the problems of adjusting to life outside the DR.

This question goes out to all Dominicans that have made the move or their spouses.

1. What surprised you the most about your new country?
2. What was the biggest adjustment?
3. What myths did you discover?
4. Was it all you hoped it would be?
5. Have you adjusted to the cold weather ( if you moved to a cold climate)
6. Knowing what you know now, was the move a wise choice?

Here's Angel's answers:

1. That we have rice in Canada (okay, that was his cousin who thought there was no rice here, but we thought it was very funny), and how massively BIG this country is!
2. In Canada, we can't go into the neighbor's house, dig through their fridge, and turn the TV on.???
3. Trina had me convinced before I moved that there was no WWF in Canada, that it was only available in the US and the DR, and I would never be able to get it on cable. It was a good two months before I found it!!!
4. Definitely, and more.
5. Yes, we just live inside the house in the winter, with the heat cranked.
6. The move was wise because there are more opportunities for my children and myself. Besides, I have the most wonderful wife in the world (okay, Trina typed that in herself )

[AnnaC]

I love that last sentence Trina.

[trina]

Originally Posted by Anna Coniglio

I love that last sentence Trina.

Well, I'm positive that he would've said that if he wasn't so shy in front of all these people.

[mondongo]

1. Surprised me the most:

a) I could not comprehend, even though I was only 11.5 years old, how gracious losers were. This especially applied to politics. When a candidate lost a race, he smiled and wished the winner good luck. Losers did not sabotage the winner, they lived to fight another day. This applied to many aspects of American life (Note that this may not be the case anymore in the USA).

b) American students knew very little goegraphy, math, and history.

c) Sliced bread? You call THAT bread? I very, very vividly recall my early mornings in San Juan de la Maguana...going to the bakery...I can still see the worker reaching into the stone oven and bringing out fresh bread. I might move back to the DR just to re-live this memory.

d) You call THIS watery mixture coffee? I am still not used to American coffee.