What's A Seattlelite To Do..

[mayra_seattle]

Been here since February and I still feel like I'd take the first flight back if I could. Anyone else took a while to adjust?

 

[manandboy]

I was there a while back and know what u mean but get out and enjoy the great people sights and culture - u will miss it! I am back in September for 3 months if you are still around!

 

[Desde2008]

I have been in the same place and had to focus on the positive things here and ignore the negative. One of the positive things I have found are the people. Whether, I met them through work, family or activities, they have been so warm, open and genuine. Personally, I think that the city is a great place to really find yourself.

 

[Joe]

I hated BA the first time I came here for the the first couple of months in 2008 because of the noise, a bad apartment choice and unfamiliarity with the food. But now it is one of my favorite places in the world - otherwise I wouldn't be here so often.

 

[Girino]

I think it depends a lot on your situation. If you are a stay at home wife with little to none interaction with the outside world, you can easily get overwhelmed every time you are "forced" to face to go out, especially if your partner does not have such problems (.e.g works in an English speaking office/is already fluent in Spanish).

In my Spanish class there are 2 or 3 american ladies in their 40-50's and I can see their struggle with the language. I am not fluent and I understand like 20% of what I am said, but it is a start and I am very proud when I can understand/reply to something. But meeting other people from this board from theUS and hearing the way they are fluent Spanish amazed me. Perhaps to some it came natural, but it is quite a different language from the English, so... chapeau!

Language is not an option, you are not living in a compound somewhere in Middle East, so make your best effort to learn it. Hang out with people speaking English who have already been there. On this forum there are at least 4 scheduled events per week, most of them downtown. In winter there are a lot of activities, although most of them require some knowledge of Spanish, the expat community is quite active.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Are you here permanently? In my experience my first 3-6 months was honeymoon. Everything was new. I enjoyed discovering new stuff. Then, I started really missing my home country, food, music, and language. I went through about 18 months of "I hate this sh*tty city!" Everything annoyed me. The dog crap on the sidewalk, rude people, noisy buses, idiot government, etc etc. It wasn't until I got serious about learning Spanish and started discovering the city as my own - making my own local friends (not other expats) that I started feeling like this was my city and I could live here. I still miss stuff from home but I love being here. This city offers a lot if you know where to look and are willing to put yourself out there.

 

[mayra_seattle]

As of now, it is permanent. My husband and I decided to move here for a couple of years or so. He is Argentine, so all of his family is here. Luckily, I already speak spanish being of mexican decent, so my language barrier is minute.. I'm looking into continuing my education while I'm here. Hopefully once there, I start meeting new people and making new friends. I thought it would've been a smoother transition but a whole different country, new culture, and being so far from home got to me. ha, I totally agree on all those things getting annoying though. Not to mention the tv shows.. still don't understand their sense of humor

 

[mayra_seattle]

I have been in the same place and had to focus on the positive things here and ignore the negative. One of the positive things I have found are the people. Whether, I met them through work, family or activities, they have been so warm, open and genuine. Personally, I think that the city is a great place to really find yourself.

I have noticed too that people are a lot warmer and genuine. I remember when I first got here i felt kinda awkward about greeting everyone with a kiss but now it just comes naturally. When I go back home to visit, greeting people with a kiss will be interesting, but yeah meeting warm hearted people has been a nice change.

 

[mayra_seattle]

I think it depends a lot on your situation. If you are a stay at home wife with little to none interaction with the outside world, you can easily get overwhelmed every time you are "forced" to face to go out, especially if your partner does not have such problems (.e.g works in an English speaking office/is already fluent in Spanish).

In my Spanish class there are 2 or 3 american ladies in their 40-50's and I can see their struggle with the language. I am not fluent and I understand like 20% of what I am said, but it is a start and I am very proud when I can understand/reply to something. But meeting other people from this board from theUS and hearing the way they are fluent Spanish amazed me. Perhaps to some it came natural, but it is quite a different language from the English, so... chapeau!

Language is not an option, you are not living in a compound somewhere in Middle East, so make your best effort to learn it. Hang out with people speaking English who have already been there. On this forum there are at least 4 scheduled events per week, most of them downtown. In winter there are a lot of activities, although most of them require some knowledge of Spanish, the expat community is quite active.

Yeah I think my situation has a lot to do with it. As of now, I'm a stay at home wife which is sooo different to what I'm used to. I used to be a freelance makeup artist in Seattle so I was always on the go, not to mention I made in 3 days what people here make in a whole month! Which is so mind blowing to me. Now, that I'm here things slowed down for me, I'm not working and although I'm looking, I am finding that it's not aneasy task. II'm glad I have somewhat of a head start since I don't have to learn a new languange but still, finding a job is a challenge.

 

[RichardP]

Having lived for 17 years in Seattle, I can say it's a soulless place though beautiful. You are still in the recovery stage. Give yourself time...