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K. Racine

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November 10, 2007

Racine
I was so incredibly excited to get an email from a friend with this picture attached. My name is Kyle Racine so I think it’s pretty fricken sweet that there is a sign in Wisconsin that says K. Racine. I’ve been to Racine, WI before since my mom has relatives there and that’s how I got my middle name, but I never saw a sign with my first initial too!

Aside from the fact that it’s just awesome that a street sign with my name on it exists, it feels good to know that someone remembers me.

I think the hardest part of being an expat is being away from your friends and family and that lingering feeling that some, a lot of them are slowly forgetting you. When you leave your hometown you know that life will go on without you but at the same time, it’s still a punch in the gut when you get those pictures from that first wedding you couldn’t attend. And I’m sure in a few years the kids will start to arrive and it will be even harder not to be there for that huge event in the lives of people that were very important to me when I was younger.

As an expat you send emails to friends when you feel lonely and you don’t always get a response. The truth is that nobody really understands what it’s like living in a foreign country permanently unless they’ve done it themselves. Logically you know if people don’t respond, it’s not because they don’t love you but because they are busy. It happens to me too, this week I haven’t answered a single email because of lack of time. But in your heart you just are hoping that your friends miss you like you miss them. They probably don’t though, because when you move abroad you leave them all behind and you have nobody familiar. But they all still have each other, they aren’t alone like you are.

And the people that you do end up keeping in touch with are sometimes really surprising. Like my friend who sent me the email with this photo…were we best of friends in high school? No, we were friendly acquaintances who hung out in the same group. But since I’ve been away we’ve kept in touch more than I have with some people who were my “best friends” in high school. When I brought S. back to the U.S. my friend who sent me this picture took more time than anybody else to get to know S. and showed him the one event that S. still talks about to this day…his visit to the fire station. It was one of the big highlights of the S. Comes to the U.S. tour.

I’m really grateful for people who make the effort to stay in touch because I know how hard it is.

Thank you :)

  • Melsa
    I bet it's easy to feel isolated sometimes, especially when contact is not as much as we hope. But i'm also sure their thoughts turn to you more often than you think - i often wonder how friends abroad are going, only because they're sure to be doing something far more interesting than my friends at home. :)
  • Tiffany
    I always thought that it was interesting who ive stayed in contact with. People that I never thought I would talk to I have stayed in touch with through the years!
  • mexpat
    That's one of the biggest fears I have about moving abroad- that and being able to make new friends there. I don't keep in touch with anyone from High School, so I hope I can make more of an effort with my friends now. And email has to make things a little easier.
  • Anonymous
    I completely understand what you mean! (Although I'm not technically "living" abroad...)


    When I studied abroad, I had that same feeling. I have to say that I don't know if I ever got over the "hurt" of some of my closest friends not writing/calling regularly then. After that I realized that when college was over we'd probably not keep in touch, so I didn't bother hanging out with them as much when I returned. BUT I had one friend who I hadn't considered super close take the time to send a care package, the only one I received from a non-family member. To this day, remembering how I felt when I got that package makes me feel incredibly lucky to have her as a friend!



    Jayna
  • EvilJoy
    ... Who are you again?
  • Brenda
    I can relate to what you are saying. It must have been very hard to move to a different country and not be able to have contact with family and friends before the computer age.
  • Agustin
    Kyle tu habias estado en CHile antes, el año 1999. Si asi fue, creo que yo te conozco por que fui compañero tuyo en una escuela en Santiago. Tu viniste de intercambio desde Michigan y cursaste medio año en mi escuela(en realidad no recuerdo mucho si era esa ciudad o no)
    Pero tu cara es muy familiar.

    Bueno si me equivoco te pido mil disculpas, pero si estoy en lo cierto espero que aun te acuerdes de las personas que compartimos contigo en ese tiempo.

    Saludos

    Si quieres responder te envio mi e-mail por si acaso: agustinsaavedra@gmail.com

    Agustin Saavedra.
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