Immigration Insights: Navigating Life in a New Country

The state of being an immigrant is something that those who have never lived outside the country where they were born and raised and therefore have never experienced the psychology of being an immigrant can hardly empathize with. For those who have lived it, it can be a challenging process, like a deep cold river whose connection to the sea is uncertain. Speaking from my own experience, for an adult, the process of immigration can be described as a significant period of change and adaptation. I decided to open a mini “immigration file” by compiling both my own firsthand experiences and the insights of people in my close circle who have gone through similar situations. If you are ready, let us begin.

We can categorize migration historically into political, economic, and cultural forms. The group I will examine falls into both economic and cultural migration: cross-border migration driven by job opportunities. Regardless of the purpose, for each group, nothing remains the same, from the taste of the food you eat to the country’s traffic rules, bureaucratic procedures and the social and cultural preferences of society. This involves a process of change both big and small.

In modern societies, migration is often perceived as ''a symbol of a better life''. This perspective has many valid points; however, those who focus solely on its positive aspects and view it from the outside may overlook the difficulties migrants face and consider their reflections on what they miss in their home country as merely romanticizing their homeland from afar. Yet migration, accompanied by profound loneliness, is the effort to hold on to life in a new country while being separated from one’s sense of belonging and roots and trying to grow entirely new roots. Naturally, where you move from and to, and how deeply you are connected to your roots, can increase or decrease the psychological impact of the experience.

It is moving from the familiar impromptu conversations you have while shopping at your usual grocery store or grabbing coffee at your favorite café to new markets or cafés, where the “How are you today?” question, to which the answer is barely expected. It is pausing for a moment when a waiter, who is unlikely to know your taste, makes a recommendation while you are ordering for the first time at a restaurant. It is seeing the daily rush of people speaking your language on the street replaced by the routines of new people whose pasts you cannot relate to. It is not being able to join in the national sentiments during the founding anniversaries of a country whose recent history you have not witnessed; not being able to share spontaneous jokes with newly made friends; being unable to arrange, even if your closest friend is just a phone call away, “Shall we meet at our favorite restaurant on Friday evening?” or being unable to be with your family or loved ones in an urgent situation. At the end of the day, the emotional ups and downs these extended lists create in you, combined with fundamentally still-unfulfilled relationships, can make you feel a sense of belonging crisis all over again each time you return to your home country.

In addition to the economic reasons for migration, there is also the anxiety and stress brought on by having to hold on to a new work environment in order to maintain your position in the country. Trying to prove yourself again in the professional world after a certain age, and realizing that all the references and experience you have accumulated so far may not contribute in the new workplace, adds to the challenge. If your move was not tied to an existing job (a situation often faced by those who relocate with their families, where one spouse moves for a career opportunity while the other needs to find a brand-new job in the new country), you may encounter questions during your job search similar to “How many years of experience do you have?” but adapted to the new market, such as “How many years of experience do you have in this region?” At the end of the day, all of this can create a strong sense of insecurity, inadequacy, and failure, pushing a person into the delicate balancing act of deciding whether to accept or reject the culture and environment they have entered.

In the modern world, you might think that some of the examples I mentioned above are things you cannot experience even in your own country; after all, we no longer do our grocery shopping with long conversations every morning, and most of our daily tasks no longer require physical contact. Or, considering the already filtered social circles you have after a certain age, you might feel that even people who speak the same language in your home country sometimes do not understand you. Yet none of this changes the fact that the genuine, face-to-face, selfless connections we built in the recent past had a profound positive impact on how we feel.

So, if you ask, “What are the positive aspects of this migration, what does it bring us?” I can provide a list at least as extensive as the challenges I mentioned earlier. To begin appropriately, I would start with a proverb and first of all say, “One language, one person; two languages, two people.” I’m not necessarily referring to learning a new language in the country you move to; this applies to every scenario in which you live your daily life in a language different from your mother tongue and learn its nuances. No matter how proficient you are in a foreign language, at first it may be difficult to express your emotions. Over time, however, this language becomes more than just a tool for handling everyday tasks. It becomes nourished by the communications you develop with the people around you. You get a chance to see the thought worlds, cultural identities, and perspectives of numerous people who were raised in completely different parts of the globe. You gain the opportunity to closely observe and understand the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of a country that might have previously been just a point on a map for you, a place you had visited only a few times, or perhaps never at all. If you are fortunate, you form lasting friendships and meaningful connections with people with whom you share common ground. Through these relationships, you realize that feeling close to someone does not require coming from the same culture, being born in the same land, or speaking the same mother tongue. Beyond social relationships, adapting to the bureaucratic systems and everyday functioning of a new country, although challenging at first, builds confidence. This confidence later grounds you firmly and prepares you to face many future challenges with stability.

Each of us experiences the feeling of being at home differently and our definitions of home naturally vary. Still, there are certain common elements in the safe spaces we call home. Beyond the sense of being in a familiar neighborhood, what truly helps us establish roots is the ability to form relationships and social spaces that replace the connections we have lost or been separated from even if they are not exactly the same. When you decide to move your most cherished books, carefully wrapped paintings waiting in your family home, photo albums, or mementos filled with memories to your new home, items you could not take with you on day one, and later, after a long time, when you say goodbye to loved ones at the airport without your eyes filling up with tears as they did before, life sends you its first signal: congratulations, you have completed the adjustment phase of your ongoing migration journey and are ready to move on to the next stage!