Moving to Europe is like the adventure that Jim Hawkins had in Treasure Island. Jim got a tremendous experience, a lot of impressions, but everything did not happen quite the way he had originally imagined. It's good in Europe, but there may be situations when expectations differ from reality. The good news is that you can prepare ahead of time. So, let's imagine that our Jimmy from Russia received an offer to work in a small IT company in Berlin. What will happen next?
ParenthesisJim's story is very individual and does not pretend to be an objective and unique reality. Jim was helped by his current colleagues from Wrike and talked about how they live or lived abroad. Therefore, their quotes and personal stories are periodically found in the text.
1. Society. All around
Jimmy is single. He has no wife, dog or cat. He came to Berlin with one travel bag. The company rents him a room for the first month, and Jim starts looking for a new place to live. He walks around the city, copes with his duties, but remains a loner. The members of his team are friendly, but in general they don't pry into his personal affairs - they don't ask how the weekend was or if he saw the latest Spider-Man movie. But Jim behaves in a similar way - he comes, says hello, sits down at the workplace and does the work.
From the hero's diary: "At work, people talk about work, and everyone keeps their distance."
Wrike: Expat Notes.
Everyone in Canada is really friendly. Probably only here they can say: "Sorry for getting in your way, you apparently were in a hurry on an important matter." One day I was sitting on a bench in a mall listening to music with my head down. I was approached three times and asked if I was all right and if I needed medical attention.
Valeria. Canada, Toronto. 2 years.
My husband and I live near Haifa, he works at the university, and I am on maternity leave with my daughter. Mostly expats and Jews from outside the CIS settle here. The IT sector is called “hi-tech” here.
Margarita. Israel, Haifa. Right now.
2. Language. English
English is needed to discuss work issues. Jim speaks it literally a couple of times a day: at morning stand-ups and when discussing his duties directly. The rest of the time, the locals speak their own language. And Jim, in principle, is satisfied with this, because he comes here to work, and not to chat. The locals discuss both Spider-Man and the latest iPhone, but they do it ... in German.
Jim leaves an entry in his diary: “Practice English? Pf, he is needed here as a tool, there is no point in some kind of cool level - they understand you at work, in the store you can always ask to show the number. No one needs perfect English in Berlin, neither me nor my colleagues. Enough good English.”
Wrike: Expat Notes.
When you go to the most criminal state in Malaysia, you expect that no one will speak English there, but this is not so. It is spoken everywhere, from hospitals to shawarma. The proximity of Singapore and the fact that more than half of the state's population works there affects.
Catherine. Malaysia, Johor Bahru. 3 months.
Language is not easy. There is always a temptation to switch to Russian. Once in the store, our grandmother almost killed us, because we asked her in English to give us sliced sausage. However, if you start a conversation in Czech, then everyone blossoms. In English, it looks like a formal exchange of information.
Dmitriy. Czech Republic, Prague. Right now.
3. Language. Local
A year has passed. Jim realized that without German he misses a whole cultural layer - he does not laugh at jokes, does not understand the global plans of the company, and in places that Jim is used to visiting, and where they even recognize him, he has to speak simple English, because there 15 German speakers and Jim.
He leaves an entry in his diary: “When you are the only foreigner in the team, no one will adapt to you. Even if the conversation is in English, it is likely to switch to German. Then you have the right to say: "English, please" or if the culture code is read, and the guys have a sense of humor, you can even try: "English, motherf**, do you speak it ?!"
Wrike: Expat Notes.
There are no problems with the language. People from the former USSR speak Russian, the rest speak English. You need Hebrew to read signs and know your favorite falafel ingredients.
Margarita. Israel, Haifa. Right now.
Despite the popularity of English, it will not help you in some cases. For example, when you answer "yes", it can mean anything, but not "yes" in your understanding.
Catherine. Malaysia, Johor Bahru. 3 months.
4. Work. Processes
Jim thought that everything was different on the other side of the border, and everything looked like a well-oiled assembly line with shiny elements. He was wrong. The processes are exactly the same. There was scrum on Jimmy's ship, reviews, retros, sprints. Tasks could easily appear in the middle of a sprint, and requirements or UI could change towards the end. Jim wanted to see an ideal world, but he saw his own, only in German.
Journal entry: “Requirements may come towards the end of the sprint. The design can change so that in retro we will blame the designers for not considering the development. It may happen that the already made functionality was not needed. In general, as elsewhere on our earth.
5. Work. People
And here Jim's expectations completely coincided with reality. No one likes overwork and delays at work. One day, Jim's team was discussing a nasty bug that was already in production. It was Friday, and the question was who would be able to come out on Saturday to help deal with him. Jimmy would not mind, but he does not speak German, and there you have to communicate with the customer. From the locals, everyone replied that they had plans for this Saturday, so the bug would have to wait until Monday.
Jim leaves an entry in his diary: “Personal and family time is priceless. No one has the right to demand processing, they are even, on the contrary, not encouraged. There is no cult to load yourself at 146%, everyone is in favor of balance.
Wrike: Expat Notes.
Canadians work hard, they are real workaholics. They have 10 days of paid vacation and 9 days of holidays. They are aimed at repaying a loan for study, earning money for old age, so that they can rest in peace later.
Valeria. Canada, Toronto. 2 years.
6. Society. Friends and free time
Jim met three cool people he met on the weekends, went to barbecues, bars and more. They had something that no German had - they spoke Russian. Jimmy was not looking for the local diaspora or the Russian-speaking community. He met these guys at the climbing wall, where he went several times a week.
From the hero's diary: “Unexpectedly, I met cool Russian-speaking guys. It happened by itself, without the participation of any communities. And it was already easier to communicate with them and with the locals, because English began to prevail in communication.”
Wrike: Expat Notes.
It is unlikely that you will be able to come to visit someone by calling in an hour or an hour and a half. Such an event should be planned for a week. An urgent call to a friend at night with a request to pick up from a dark forest will also most likely not help - you will be advised to order a taxi.
Valeria. Canada, Toronto. 2 years.
You will be told that for $4 you can eat here all day. True, they will not say that this is exclusively local cuisine. One European dish will cost the same $4.
Catherine. Malaysia, Johor Bahru. 3 months.
Finale
Things did not go well for the company, and Jim was laid off. He returned to Russia because it was easier for him at that time. Before leaving, he asked the technical director of a small IT company: “Why did you hire Russian Jim?” — “Because this is a great experience for us. You adequately passed all the stages of the interview, and we decided why not try a Russian programmer in our company?”
Jim leaves a final note: “I don't feel like a loser. I don’t even feel like the one on whom the company earned experience, because for myself I made some conclusions:
- the local language is required to learn, if I had started earlier, I would have a better understanding of what is happening around, despite the fact that everyone speaks English;
- running away from processes is useless, they are the same everywhere, with the same disadvantages and advantages;
- even without the local language, you start thinking in another language, and these are very interesting sensations;
- new cities, ports, temples, there are so many unknowns around, and it's really worth it, and they still pay in piastres.
Jim doesn't exist. But there are those who have succeeded. Share good and not so good stories about how you or your friends also moved to work in other countries. For Wrike, this is especially true, given that the .
Source: habr.com