Expat from Eastern Europe
I am an expat and I am also a Romanian. I was born during communism and I remember Ceausescu (from TV). For me as a kid communism meant that I had to stay in long queues in order to buy stuff, from bread to meat, and from soap to oranges. That’s why I developed an aversion towards queues.
Communism meant that in the last years before the revolution we had no electricity for two hours in the evening and that on TV, on a working day, there were only news for an hour or two. In rare occasions I could see an old foreign movie, and I mean old by at least 20 years.
I consider myself lucky because I was still a child when the revolution came and I could grow up with plenty of hope. There was suddenly a world of possibilities that I didn’t quite understand but which I was determined to explore. My aim was to travel, to see the world and compare.
Becoming an expat
In 2007 I got a job offer based in Brno, Czech Republic and I suddenly became an expat.
Being an expat is nothing like traveling for a short or a long period of time. The amount of interaction and knowledge that you gain by living day by day in a community is impressive.
Brno for me was absolutely amazing. In Brno there was a great international environment and I met some extraordinary people, and with some I became friends. We keep in touch even after life took us in other directions. In fact in Brno I met my future husband, who is Czech, and through his family I learn more things about Czech life.
In 2011 I moved from Brno to Bratislava and I am still an expat. I had a new job, a different status -I got married and later I became a mom. The life changed for us but my husband likes to say that it was a great move to relocate to Bratislava.
Life is forever changing and it was time to relocate again. This time to Prague! After Brno and Bratislava the next city is a bit different. In Prague there are more activities to choose from but the human connections are harder to forge because we all live farther apart. However is a great city and we are slowly settling down.
My blog
Being an expat can be great if you have friends, know the language and you have a good job. It is important if you have a bit of know-how regarding getting around, from setting up a bank account to buying a monthly pass for local transport.
Hopefully this blog will give you an insight of what it is like to be an expat as a mom, wife, but mostly a woman. And will also help you integrate better in your life. Please have in mind that I do tend to see things through the eyes of a person from Eastern Europe!
Happy reading!
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