Tips For An Expat's Life

[Lost in Buenos Aires]

What tips do you have for living a "successful" expat life in Argentina?

 

[Farenheit]

Eyes in the back of your head
Bloody-mindedness
Big bank balance
Equally big sense of humour

 

[Parvati]

As an expat anywhere you need to adapt and part of it is take things for what they are. At some point it is necessary to stop comparing wherever you come from to the current place you are living in. In our case now Argentina. Every place has the good, the bad and the ugly and you really can't compare one culture and country to another, because a lot gets lost in translation and it is not fair. Focus on the positives of the place you live in. Especially if you are here not due to an assignment, but because you chose to. There are positive things that brought you here, that keep you here and that make it worth while. I think it is all about the attitude you have to the challenges you face.
Yes, it can get tiresome at times, but every place has its down side.

 

[WindyCityJames]

Medialunas and a cortado...every time. If I ever have a "down" day they always help. Throw in some alfajores and go to a milonga to top it off.

An alternate is to post something uniquely porteño on your Facebook page and revel in the comments from your friends back home who have never been to BsAs. When you live here you sometimes need to be reminded how amazing it is that you ARE living here.

 

[Ceviche]

Respect the country you live in - The country which is giving you its sheltor, its infrastructure to use, its night life/social life to enjoy/its public transportation to use/ cultural interaction etc.

Do not make fun of it on public forums or abuse its immigration system or work illegally or abuse its citizens directly/indirectly.

 

[syngirl]

Learn the language of the place you are living. Just by doing so you will decrease the stress involved in living in another country. I know people who have been living here for years, have kids, married to locals, and do not speak the language. And therefore feel trapped -- every task outside of their home becomes a challenege and they get angry and upset over things that would have been possible to avoid if they just put the effort in to learn the local language.

 

[AngelinBA]

Become very observant -and I don't mean to avoid crime, just observe the locals. Instead of writing something off because "I do it differently", watch how the locals act. And not so you can copy and 'fit in' but so you can understand and therefore be able to sympathise with the people you have chosen to live with.

 

[pmacher]

Respect the country you live in - The country which is giving you its sheltor, its infrastructure to use, its night life/social life to enjoy/its public transportation to use/ cultural interaction etc.

Do not make fun of it on public forums or abuse its immigration system or work illegally or abuse its citizens directly/indirectly.

You are kidding, right? Please say you are kidding.
Firstly, As a non-permanent resident, I wonder what form of shelter AR is providing me that I have not paid for (and usually at a premium because I don't qualify for many permanent resident age or residency discounts on travel or admissions). I pay for the infrastructure by payment of my ABL each month for municipal services and increased tariffs in various venues. Living where I do I get no subsidy on my utility bills which help underwrite the subsidies given to those locals who live in less upscale neighborhoods.

The right to enjoy a night, social and cultural life is again paid for with my hard earned money - nothing is free for me. If anything I pay more. And it's silly to regard such things as a privilege of some kind to which expats are somehow fortunate to be permitted to have available.

But most amusing of all is your sanctimonious nonsense about not making fun of a country, any country, on a public forum. You must really be one insecure and or embarrassed Argentino to say that. Or a misguided expat. Free speech in Argentina for all is still a right, the free exercise to which everyone is entitled. That includes making fun of a lying demagogue like Ms. Kentucky Fried Chicken.

 

[Jaredberryman]

My advice about Argentina is to understand that you cannot change the system. There are many things that work slowly in Argentina or not at all. Do your best to move on and ignore it--there is nothing you can do to change it. Learning the language helps in nearly every way in every facet of this country. Try to learn to avoid doing certain things, or learn how to do them more efficiently. When you go to get something done, and it doesn't happen because of inefficiencies, instead of viewing it as a failure or wasted time, view it as step 1 in the process of what you were trying to accomplish. Change your mentality from, "This should work better" to, how can I deal with this more efficiently? This will help you to overcome the famous "culture shock". If you are planning on living here long term, realize that in some period between 6 months and 3 years, you WILL experience culture shock. Culture shock is horrible, but it passes. Realize that this is part of the process of becoming part of another culture, and if you can identify it, it will help you to get past that hump. Once you have accepted the way things are, you won't be so stressed by it.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Excellent thread and great responses!

Ditto on not comparing Argentina to where you came from. However, this is really hard as your frame-of-reference is all about where you came from. You might need to go through stages of adjustment. There was a point where I HATED Argentina and most everything about it because there was a lot I was missing from my own culture - music, food, friends, etc. I still have those thoughts once in awhile (and I've been here 7 years) but now they are few and far between.

As was said earlier, focus on the positives, get involved in your community, learn the language, make Argentine friends and try to understand WHY people here do what they do. I would add to make expat friends as well, not only from your homeland but from other countries.

Edit - I think in Spanish the lying demagogue would be Ms. Chicken Fried Kentucky. (that was pretty funny)