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In a Strange Land
By Larry Pitman

Note: This is the first in a series of articles that will examine the expatriate experience with a view to how we can live comfortably in a different culture and make the most of our opportunity while living in Peru. Based on my personal and professional lives, I will formulate some suggestions that I put forward humbly as an observer of this process without the benefit of psychological or any other professional training. In advancing these ideas, I hope we can have a dialogue that will provide some helpful insights to the whole community. If you have comments regarding these articles or wish to share an experience, I would be very pleased to receive your messages. You may contact me at larryjamespitman@hotmail.com

When I lived in Melbourne, Australia, immigrant women were killing themselves by jumping off government high rise apartments. A few years later in southern California, I read that there was a booming business providing Vietnamese refugees with videos from their home country. The article noted that many of the refugees preferred to stay inside watching the videos rather than going outside to interact with a culture that they found strange and threatening. At the turn of the 20th century, millions of hopeful immigrants to the U.S. got on the boat and went back home after a time.

These are extreme examples, of course, of the problems of living in another culture. In such cases people have had to move from their home countries because of wars, persecution or economic considerations. Thus, they were motivated by their circumstances to move to another country. Some adjusted happily, others accommodated themselves to their new reality and others, as we have noted, failed.

Now we see the movement of people for other reasons, including retirement, employment, marriage, education or perhaps just plain curiosity. These are volunteers. They weren´t forced to go. Even so, it is important to them to have a satisfying experience. They can choose to return at any time to their native country.

Probably each expatriate has unique expectations about living in another country. These must include what we are willing to tolerate. We have chosen to live in a place where things are done differently. I am sure that you can quickly identify some things about life in Peru that cause you to exercise that tolerance. For some, these differences become a constant irritant that affects the quality of life. We need to shift our focus from the irritants to those things that make life enjoyable in Peru. I hope that through this series you will find ways to do this.

For reasons of work and family, I have had the pleasure of living in Australia, Bolivia, Hawaii and now Peru. In addition, in my work as a university official responsible for international exchanges with students, faculty and other staff, I have observed and assisted thousands of people who moved from one culture to reside in another. Some of these were short sojourns of six months to one year while others were making the transfer permanent.

After considering both my own experiences -- those I knew while abroad and those of people who came through my office at the university -- I am amazed at the broad range of reactions to a sustained encounter with another culture. At the extremes, some suffered pain throughout their experience, while others were ecstatic and couldn't wait to go again. Most fell in between.

At the same time, I believe that there are simple strategies that we can use to make our expatriate experience successful. Among others, these include language-learning strategies, the use of an informant, and ways to identify connections to the community. Next month, we will begin to look at these simple strategies.