I’ve heard from a lot of expats who reluctantly have to be relocated to Europe that it could be difficult to adapt back to life in European cities again, some told me they got ‘’spoiled’ by the feeling of safety in Seoul, Tokyo Shanghai or like Hongkong, also the convenience such as accessibility to supermarkets, convenient stores etc. There could be more but that’s all I can recall.
So did you find it difficult or challenging once you go back to live in Europe, after experiencing Asian cities for several years, if not, i would be interested to know why as well.
Not from Europe or East Asia, but lived in Hong Kong for 4 years and now in Germany for the past 2 years. Yes, safety level and public transport is better but that’s about it. There is such a huge cultural difference and language barrier that you need to get used to if you’ve otherwise been used to western culture. You can meet other expats, but those circles are limited and you stand out in a highly ethnic Chinese population and it’s not easy to integrate and feel at home, especially if you’re non-White. You can manage with English but many locals aren’t great at speaking it and mostly socialize in Cantonese. Whereas in Germany, there are far greater range of ethnicities who are better integrated and speak German fluently, so if you just put effort into the language, then integrating is far easier.