You Might Feel Homesick at First
At first upon your arrival to the new country and during the ensuing weeks you'll probably feel very good. Everything is new. The difference you find in the new environment will be nice. It's a time of discovery. You're the spectator, not the participant. But in time this situation will change and you'll no longer be the spectator but become the participant. At first, there may be some small discomfort such as temporary homesickness while it wears away and you'll probably miss the non-availability of certain amenities which you have been accustomed to.
Tearing yourself from your accustomed environment: home, friends, customs, climate, will generally be deeply felt during the ongoing months. Culture shock will be felt by some. The newcomers will take time adjusting to everything new; others will slide gracefully into their new life and not feel difficulty in adjusting. Acculturation is not easy for everyone. Many retirees will find that they cannot live in their new country as tourists either financially or socially. They'll have to organize themselves and their day to day living if they're to be happy.
The Rorstads experienced no serious problems by way of adjusting. They said: "In spite of no Spanish, it was a relatively easy transition for us. The most challenging aspect was trying to select an area of the Central Valley in which to reside initially. Costa Rica's incredible variety of climates and relatively poor availability of information on climate, housing types, costs and infrastructure made this aspect something of a crap shoot. We stumbled into a delightful situation, but it was mostly accidental. This is an area that would benefit from better information."
They spent the first three months without a car. Taking buses everywhere gave them an invaluable insight into Costa Ricans, the city and environs and resulted in an excellent transition. Exploring quickly revealed cultural are as of commonality (the majority) and highlighted those relatively few areas of differences. According to them, it was not difficult to modify their behaviour to take into account those differences.
|
