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We have seen this debate in other places, but I was wondering, for the Voy community, what defines for you to have truly lived somewhere? A certain period of time? A particular experience? Does it vary? Let us know.
For me, I think it depends on how much I conform to that cultures way of living. I felt like I lived in Barcelona (although it was only four weeks) because I used the metro, bought bread at local bakeries, bought groceries in local grocery stores, attended a University in Barcelona, went to local bars with friends, ate meals in typical Spanish fashion at the typical time, spoke Spanish everyday and stayed in a house with a Spanish family.
In contrast, when my family came over at the end of the program we stayed in a hotel, I spoke English again for 24 hours, traveled by taxi, ate at touristy restaurants, which you could argue was still traditional Spanish food, but we ate our meals at the earlier American times we were used to. It was different but I’m glad I got to see both sides.
To live someplace is to have a residency. You can visit or “stay” in a city or area for a period of time. When a student studies abroad, they live in a dorm, apartment of with a host family. This is their place of residency for their length of time studying. To live somewhere is with intent to stay in that place for a long time. I don’t know what I would put for a period of time that is considered to be lived in. I feel that anything less than one month is a “long visit” but to live in a place for one month seems too short to be “lived”.
To live somewhere is have your own residency and stay for an ample amount of time in one place where you are part of the city or area.
I suppose for me it’s time and experience. To be honest, I never really thought of the distinction. I guess I realized the difference in living somewhere when I went to college and saw all my friends change their hometowns or locations on Facebook. I never considered that I lived there, but I guess if it’s for most of the year then it counts.
However, if I didn’t have a lot of experiences or things outside of school, I don’t think I would have considered living there. Living someplace, in my opinion, means interacting with your surroundings or town– getting to know the area and hopefully even feel part of it, even through simple things.
Another thing is that I always specify why I was living someplace, probably since I still haven’t moved a lot. For example, I’ll say I spent a month in China, but not that I lived there. I was immersed in the culture, but since I was with friends and usually speaking English, I guess that limited me a bit to blending in, along with the short amount of time.
I believe that a combination of different things need to be taken into consideration to define whether or not someone has truly lived somewhere or not. The first thing is time- how long you were in someplace. The second is what you were doing there- were you backpacking, were you studying, were you working, etc. The third is where you lived- did you live in a host family, apartment, stay with friends or stay in a hotel/hostel. The fourth is how immersed in the local culture you were- did you have mainly foreign friends or mainly local friends, did you interact on a daily basis with the local culture, etc. And the fifth is whether you unpacked fully or not- did you leave everything in your suitcase/backpack, did you put everything in drawers and put your suitcase away, etc.
There is no set formula that determines if someone simply visited or lived somewhere though. I think it is up to each person based on their own feelings after they leave a place. For example, I taught English in Colombia for a year so I definitely lived there because I had a job, got paid in local currency, had local friends, had an apartment and had to pay for my own bills, etc. On the other hand, once I volunteered in an orphanage for a month and even though I was “working” and staying with a host family, I don’t consider that I lived there because it was just a month. In general though, if I study or work somewhere abroad for 3 months or longer I would consider that I lived there but sometimes it feels like a stretch to say that.
There is no set standard to determine whether or not you truly lived somewhere. In my opinion, there are numerous factors that go into determining whether or not someone has actually lived somewhere else. Fore example, the number one factor is the time spent in that location. Where it be a two week long vacation, short term study abroad, semester abroad, year abroad, etc. Another factor that she be put into consideration while debating this topic is what someone was doing while abroad. For example whether they were studying, taking a class, working, or volunteering.
A big factor that I would consider while determining whether or not someone has truly lived abroad is how much they immersed themselves in the culture. Were they staying with a host family and completely integrating themselves in the culture? Were they staying with other American students and rarely interacting with locals of that area.
Personally, I studied abroad for 4 months in Havana, Cuba and then for 4 months in Seville, Spain. Although 4 months is not an extended period of time, I was living with a host family in Spain, which truly enabled me to immerse in the culture. While in Cuba, I was directly enrolled at the University of Havana, and therefore felt like a typical Cuban student. With both of these situations, I definitely feel like I have lived in both Seville and Havana. On the other hand, I volunteered for a month in Cusco, Peru teaching english but I would not say that I have ever lived there. A month is very different compared to three + months.
To say I have lived somewhere, I would need to intend to be at a location for an extended period of time that was not for the purpose of school or vacation. School and vacation, even if for a year, is temporary and there is no intention to stay just to live. You are at a location for a specific purpose and once the goal is fulfilled then you will leave.
On the other hand, living somewhere means you choose a place to reside without a real end goal when your time there will be done. There does not necessarily have to be a purpose for living in a location and your time spent there can be indefinite.
