Challenges Of Living As An American Abroad

Americans, especially those who are not immigrants, people of color, or of a marginalized community, tend to have a “grass is greener on the other side” romanticization of other cultures and countries. As left-leaning Americans, my partner and I would both talk about the US, particularly the political and social climate, with a bit of disdain (rightfully so), but we were often humbled. And I don’t mean to say this to negate what’s going on in the US — from devastating political decisions from our highest court to a cost-of-living crisis affecting millions, it’s dire — but I think we sometimes forget what’s also happening outside our country lines.

Living as immigrants or temporary residents in a new place, we tended to be around other immigrants and temporary residents, whether it was at school, in French class, or in a meetup group (Montréal is extremely diverse). Compared to the US, our friends in Montréal are from all over the world (partially because Canada is the easier country to immigrate to in North America). Both my partner and I have friends who’ve fled Ukraine or even have family members still within war zones. So, when we complained about the state of the US, our reality kind of got checked. Two things can be true — the state of the US and the unrest elsewhere — but also, as white Americans who grew up in the safety of suburbia, we’ve been pretty safeguarded (so far) from the political unrest and displacement that our friends in places like Ukraine, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, and Venezuela have and continue to see, which was a humbling check of our privilege.