Alt title: Why you look like a tourist.

Stage One: We bring our home country with us, take a few photos, and leave. We know nothing about the culture, norms, or values. We complain that their sodas/cars/roads aren’t as big as ours and go home relieved.

Stage Two: We are expats. We spend most of our time with other native speakers from our culture. We understand the country we live in on a deeper level, but we still compare it (often negatively) to what we’re used to. We start to see the aspects of their culture that we wish we had back home. It’s not all bad…

Stage Three: We are able to know their culture on a deep level. We see not just what they do, but how they think and why they do it. We see the rich tapestry of society options as a spectrum, in which their way of life is a data point, the same as ours. Some good and bad in both. We’re open. The world is now unlocked, and the quest for finding the perfect mythical place that has the best of everything we’ve ever liked (and none of the bad stuff) begins. This quest will never end.