The thought of moving to a new country is not all that bad. I spent two months in Germany before we got married. After the wedding in Jamaica my husband wanted to move back to his homeland in order to pursue his career. Moving from a developing country into a more independent environment is not at all so exciting. When we moved to Germany in summer 2005, the language was the first thing that hit really hard. After just three weeks of being in the country, it became obvious that there is a need to learn at least some basic sentences. We found a private school for me and started right away. The grammar is really hard compared to English. Some words are long and pronounciation of some things make one feel stupid. But this is something I had to go through.

The next thing to encounter was fashion. In my country, people wear things according to occasion. If someone is off to the market, there is no fancy dressing. In the house is no makeup and sometimes no pants. In Germany, no matter what time of the day whether at home or just to the supermarket, everything has to be perfect. Hair is well put together. Makeup is a must and the clothes have to be of the latest fashion. How did this affect me? There was a feeling of being forced to fit in. I had good up to date clothes from home but the makeup, hair, nails, jewelry and all that everyday is not me. I am used to waking up and just pulling a T-shirt over my head and have a pair of shorts with flip flops on sunny days and having my hair in a ponytail is the house or home look.

Next thing to catch my attention is all the taxes that has to be paid. As time goes by it becomes more clear about all that we have to pay monthly just for living. One has to pay taxes for the stereo system and television in the house. The most ridiculous tax I have ever heard about is for a navigation system in the car. It's a whole new world. Now we have to decide if this is how we want to live. Moving from a poor to a rich country is way better vise versa.

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