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[Happosai]

Today I celebrate my 33rd birthday in general, but 5th birthday as an American migrant in México.

It's certainly different going back-and-forth from English to Spanish at home and at work. I grew up only speaking English and only ever traveling as far as Southern Florida from Central Illinois.

Met my wife here, have my first house, I have had bigger job opportunies, and have never witnessed cartel crime like U.S. news relays a bit exaggerated.

It's nice growing older out here. When the pandemic ends, try visiting, working, or living in a foreign country at least once. It's a big world out there.

Anyone else ever moved to another country?

 

[-Arcadia-]

Construye el muro

 

[-Arcadia-]

Happy birthday, lol. ( :

I don’t know about ever moving, that’s a bit too scary for me, but I’d love to spend more time in other countries. New Zealand is a particular favorite.

 

[Stouffers]

I’ve been to Tijuana. Went with a coworker. He forgot his passport. They still let him in.

 

[DESTROYA]

Im a immigrant from another country but live in the US, the freedoms and job opportunities are the best in the world here.
Sure the grass isn’t always greener on the other side but people in the USA take their freedom and laws for granted and don’t know how good they have it when it’s gone.
Happy Bday Happosai and if you don’t mind answering what part of Mexico do you live in and how do Mexican‘s in general like having a gringo like you living and working with them ?

 

[TaySan]

Happy birthday, OP!

I lived across the United States, but only moved out of country once. That country was Bahrain and it definitely was an interesting experience as an American.

 

[Happosai]

Im a immigrant from another country but live in the US, the freedoms and job opportunities are the best in the world here.
Sure the grass isn’t always greener on the other side but people in the USA take their freedom and laws for granted and don’t know how good they have it when it’s gone.
Happy Bday Happosai and if you don’t mind answering what part of Mexico do you live in and how do Mexican‘s in general like having a gringo like you living and working with them ?

I live in Puebla City. Mexicans are pretty cool with gringos. After the first year or two if you make local friends, they no longer treat you like a foreigner. There aren't many Americans in this city but there are a ton of Germans due to us having huge Audi and Volkswagen plants.

Thanks everyone for the birthday greetinhs! GAF has been my escape during the pandemic. Just started a new job, so less hours online.

 

[Richard Packer]

Shit. You migrated to another country and became successful! JordanN is gonna lose his shit when he sees this thread.

Happy Birthday dude.

 

[Spukc]

Happy cakeday

 

[JordanN]

Shit. You migrated to another country and became successful! JordanN is gonna lose his shit when he sees this thread.

Happy Birthday dude.

???

 

[MaestroMike]

Feliz cumpleanos !

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

 

[Richard Packer]

???

Sorry. I must've confused you with the other Jordan who cries immigrant.

 

[Kenpachii]

i am 1 year older then u get on my level.

Anyway, i will stay put in netherlands forever.

 

[JayK47]

Tell me more about how nice it is in Mexico.

 

[jshackles]

Happy birthday Happosai

I lived in Mexico for a while and it was a great experience. About 10 years ago I packed up my family and moved nearly 2,000 miles from my home town, so a lot of times it feels like it may as well be a different country even though it's not.

 

[Foamy]

I’ve been to Tijuana. Went with a coworker. He forgot his passport. They still let him in.

You went to see the donkey show didn't you?

 

[Stouffers]

You went to see the donkey show didn't you?

We were told the donkey died of AIDS years ago.

 

[Barnabot]

come to brazil. abandon spanish.

Happy birthday btw.

 

[Stouffers]

come to brazil. abandon spanish.

Happy birthday btw.

Portuguese is like bargain-bin Spanish

 

[008]

Tell us more about it? Pics, vids, etc as I would like to hear more

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

Where do you live? Mexico always has seemed like a fascinating place. As you said, the crime stories scare a lot of people off.

 

[Brian Fellows]

I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself but I’m going to pass on movement to another country.

 

[J-Roderton]

Happy birthday. I’ll visit another country one of these days.

 

[K1Expwy]

I worked overseas in a couple of countries. I enjoyed my time, but at the end of the day, it's all planet Earth. The difference comes from the culture, quality of life, and rights and freedoms and opportunities afforded by the respective government.

After being far away from home for so long, and adjusting to the goings-on of another culture, I started to lose my association with my home country. It's not so much being immersed in a new environment, the bigger problem is missing out on what happened in my old environment while I was somewhere else. It's still taking me a long time to re-adjust. But I'll travel again if the opportunity pops up

 

[Komatsu]

It's nice growing older out here. When the pandemic ends, try visiting, working, or living in a foreign country at least once. It's a big world out there.

Anyone else ever moved to another country?

Mexico is a great country and el DF is one of my favorite cities. Great restaurants, amazing nightlife, lots of culture.

I first lived abroad when I was 10 and spent more than a third of my life as an expat and living abroad gives you a lot of perspective on where you came from, more so than on country where you ostensibly live.

 

[West Texas CEO]

Belize is the only English speaking Central American country. Thinking of retiring there one day..

 

[Komatsu]

Belize is the only English speaking Central American country. Thinking of retiring there one day..

It has a really chill Caribbean vibe.

 

[Prison Mike]

Hapoy birthday sir

Ive lived a couple of years in greece great country and lovely people.

 

[bender]

 

[Romulus]

The women tho

 

[Potato Chip PRO]

Tell me more about how nice it is in Mexico.

A 20 min drive from my hometown in Mexico.. There's a town that has a lot of retired Americans living the life there. Believe me, if you move and retire there you'll live like a king with your dollars

 

[Happosai]

Thanks for all the cool questions, birthday greetings, and comments guys! Especially nice to hear from TaySan jshackles and @SLoWMoTIoN Richard Packer -Arcadia- DESTROYA

Sorry I didn't get much time to jump into the thread after posting it. Just started a new job on Monday and haven't been on GAF as much but I'm still able to read your messages on mobile. I'll still be around here and have had an awesome time posting with all of you since May.

Many are asking where I am exactly and I posted in an early thread Puebla City. It's a pretty calm place if and only has two months out of the year that I consider cold (like upper-30's Fahrenheit). You have to get used to some major things when migrating from the U.S. to this country. Yes, you need to learn basic Spanish if you want to get by (also if you don't want people constantly asking what English speaking country you came in from), Americans grow up on the imperial system...it's all metric down here...but you learn fast, and people are more social. I've heard people say Mexico is 3rd-world and that's pretty far from the truth. It's developing and you'll find they have some rather expensive global business partners in the U.S., Europe, and I believe Korean and Taiwan have had a lot of recent business interests with us as well. You'll find most American franchises here: Walmart, Starbucks, CostCo, Sam's Club, McDonald's, Burger King, Carl's Jr., Office Depot, Home Depot, Best Buy, and a ton of others. Most Mexicans are big on American pop culture and you still get all the same great video games, music, and movies. The big difference is that the food here differs from what Americans consider to be Mexican food. I've never had or seen a place selling burritos in the years I've been here...we don't exactly know if burritos are a real Mexican food. The actual food is something which I wouldn't trade for anything I had growing up in the States.

Anyway, sorry for typing up so much. Peace!

 

[TaySan]

Mexico is a beautiful and varied country. Visited Cancun a couple of times and enjoyed my stay! Also visited Nogales when I lived in Tuscon and it was a little scary at the time, but this was back in like 2005. You guys have the best coke cola and I wish the USA still made it that way.

 

[Happosai]

Mexico is a beautiful and varied country. Visited Cancun a couple of times and enjoyed my stay! Also visited Nogales when I lived in Tuscon and it was a little scary at the time, but this was back in like 2005. You guys have the best coke cola and I wish the USA still made it that way.

I've actually never been in Northern Mexico. I live about 14-hours from the border. Cancun is nice but Quintana roo has a ton of lesser crowded beach resorts as well. Cancun definitely gets the most tourism in the Yucatan peninsula. I'm closer to the beaches in Veracruz. Yes, Coca Cola is bottled locally along with Heineken. So although Heineken is an international beer (Netherlands...I think); it's not physically imported. I don't recommend travel along the Pacific rim States like Sonora or Guerrero at the moment. Cartels do run through there and so it's recommended that only locals navigate through those states. Where I live drugs are pretty uncommon and culturally frowned upon. For example -- if someone in your family smokes weed, it's considered rebel-like and can lead to gossip or shunning of that person.