Is it normal to feel like an alien in your own country?

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4 Comments

I am a US citizen, but starting at age 5, because of my father's work, I spent the next 28 years living abroad. Mostly in what people used to call "the third world" in Africa and Asia.

My childhood was spent in nice (but not luxurious) conditions for the most part, but the places I lived were dangerous and full of poverty and human misery. It was normal for me to see men with guns guarding our home or neighborhood, for example. Or to see people in extreme poverty. Living behind big walls much of the time. What else...some very beautiful places, kind and heroic people, too.

Anyway, I only went back to the US a few times in my life before I was 33, when I moved back. Now I've been back a year and a half, and I can't really adjust to it properly or understand the way things work. I know I will get a hang of it but I feel very strange, not knowing how to do many daily-life things.

I have happy (but hazy) early childhood memories of my life here, and my identity has always been as a US citizen wherever I lived. But now that I'm here, I just can't understand so many things. People seem strangely open and friendly one minute, then guarded and distant the next. People seem to live in great luxury, even many "poor" people. There is tremendous optimism about many things. But on the other hand, people often strike me as unhappy.

It is not my intention to complain about the US -- I like it and am looking forward to living here. But I am having a lot of trouble adjusting and I feel like an idiot most of the time.

Voting Results
83% Normal
Based on 23 votes (19 yes)
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Comments ( 4 )
  • kricket
    13 years ago

    You should check out the film " God grew tired of us" regarding four Sudanese people who mov to New York to start a new life and to provide money to their families in from Sudan. A documentary which talks about how different there lives are and they even compare how different the people are. You can find it on Netflix and it's very interesting.

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  • MeLikesLittleBoys169
    11 years ago

    Are you an alien from the planet of Xenu? If so, kill yourself immediately before you unwillingly take over and enslave the human race.

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  • gusipemeaza
    12 years ago

    go every day for two week to the bar and get drunk and try to meet new people then you will understand how your people works

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  • elitist
    12 years ago

    I'm not voting because as a general question the answer is NO, but for your situation it is VERY normal.

    I grew up and went to school in the States, but spent many summers with family in a 2nd world country. And yes, there were soldiers patrolling the streets of major cities. I tell you this to let you know I understand your situation very well.

    The conflicts in personality you're seeing are because you are in fact in an alien culture. Because I was actually raised here, I often feel like I'm from another planet! This country isn't my 'home' but the other country is even less so.

    I don't know the movie Kricket posted, but I think the movie Idiocracy might be illuminating. If nothing else the first 10 minutes explains what is happening to America right now. It's a great country, but the culture could use a lot of improvement.

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