Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can reflect to that. As a person that lived over 10 years abroad, coming back to Greece and Crete has been difficult. I can see myself and some foreigners that resided here after their pension came in, doing things that we wouldn't do e.g in the UK. (I can see changing in the way I drive, interact etc and that has been paved by the surroundings, given the fact that I got my licence in the UK and have been driving f…
Related question, as 10 years seems a good time: do you think it changed you as a person? I.e. If you imagined yourself never having moved away, do you think you'd react / think differently now than you do? (in a broader sense than driving)
Been away for 10 years and lived a bit in New York and the rest of the time in London, changed me a lot.
Now that I am back, I am having trouble communicating with people around me, as they can't believe nor understand some experience am sharing with them.
My funniest moment so far is an Expo I went to in Athens which is supposed to be the top Expo for balkans, and they had a smart room for the hotels of the future. The narrator that was running the whole story went and picked up an alexa echo, putting it right infront of his mouth, giving a command like 'alexa night mode'. I couldn't believe in my eyes. I do happen to use alexa and have it all around my house, so that came out as a shock to me as to what they believe as groundbreaking tech here.
On other fields I'd say workplaces, while I work remotely, I can definitely see my wife and close circle on how unprofessional they are with their jobs. Also discrimination is another thing here, people advertise for jobs only for women or jobs only for men and specific ages which is definitely discriminatory.
As an example, if I ever start my own company here, I am going to run it by the book and I'll definitely use a model closer to London or even Scandi countries, I'd never discriminate against anyone etc.
So yes if I imagine myself never having moved away, I'd definitely be a completely different person right now. (Don't get me wrong, there are still nice people here, and some parts of the lifestyle are way better compared to big cities)