Essay on Difficulties I Faced While Living in a New Country

Residing in a new country exposed me to new experiences that were both interesting and challenging at the same time. As is expected any one person who is visiting a new country is bound to experiences a variety of challenges that are unanticipated. Different countries practice different cultures that make it hard for foreigners to adopt. My dream has always been visiting new places to meet people from diverse cultures and destinations. My visit to Turkey was tarnished by a series of difficulties that are discussed below.

Having been used to the weather conditions in my home country, visiting Turkey was quite challenging. The cold climatic conditions were too much for me to handle. Despite few cases of winter in my home country, the levels of coldness in winter surpassed my expectations. The cold was too much that I had to change my wardrobe or stay indoors for the better day of the day. Climate is a crucial aspect when visiting a new place and it really affected my stay in this new country. My stay in the country was not what I expected. I did not have the chance to visit most of the places I had initially hoped to visit.

Food and nutrition also differ based on lifestyle and customs across different countries. I found Turkey having a cuisine that did not satisfy my nutrition preferences. Despite the food being nice, it was quite costly compared to the prices of a similar taste of food in my home country. Moreover, the cuisine was somewhat different and some of the meals were new to me. I tried to have some of the meals as recommended by various locals and to my surprise, it was not as good as I had anticipated. What amazed me more is how the Turkey population consumes high amounts of proteins. It was a challenge adopting a new diet owing to my preference as a vegetarian and consumer of low-fat foods such as fish.

Communication barrier is another challenge I encountered during my stay in Turkey. The locals had an Arabic accent when speaking English, something which made dialect a huge challenge. As much as they spoke in English, most of them had an accent which hindered the comprehension levels. With communication being a problem, I was limited to visit very few places across the country as well as socialize effectively with new friends. Lastly, some of the locals seemed to be anti-social kind of a population. People rarely engaged openly in a country which was very strict in their religion. Despite decency being notable around the public, many people were secretive and exercised low levels of hospitality, perhaps due to the language difference.

All the same, Turkey is a wonderful country to visit and an amazing destination, However, I did find it a challenge adapting and embracing their lifestyles and cultures. I was unable to connect with people and network due to issues related to communication, lifestyle and cultural customs being different compared to my home country. It took me long to adapt to new environment, learning the way of communication. Moreover, I made few friends from the Turkish community even though through a hectic process. In spite the experience, I learned a few things about interacting with people from different countries. Challenges are unavoidable in life, and we only need to act the right way. We also learn how to respond to issues decisively when one encounters challenges in the quest for a particular dream. I lived and learned a lot from the Turkey ordeal.