Things You'll Learn Living Abroad

It's been almost 3 years since I moved to Japan.

I was halfway through my 26th year then and now I'm halfway to my 30th year.

Wow! Time flies fast indeed.

I've grown a lot in the last three years than all my early 20's combined, I think. Living abroad forced me to grow up, improve, change and take a hard look at myself. It sounds like it's really enlightening to live abroad. It is. But not without lots of tears, homesickness and frustrations. I never been so sad and depressed until I move abroad. I've never been so broken and so humbled until I live abroad.

But it's not all sorrow and sadness. Living abroad is also freeing. I didn't have to live up to anyone's expectations. I'm free from my own culture. I'm free to discover who I really am and who I wanted to be. It's when I live abroad that I became honest with myself. I didn't realize how I needed to be away from home to feel at home with myself. Living abroad is not only discovering a new place but also a journey to self-discovery.