Dilemma of the Immigrant

I've often read and heard about the ecstasy and the pain of people who make that leap of faith and migrate to another country.It may not seem like a big deal to begin with, with all the initial euphoria and activity happening, but when one starts living life afresh in a new country, I guess the trials and tribulations come to the 'fore by and by.

Usually people move from one's home country in search of greener pastures which mainly would mean the economic component of one's life I guess. However, adjusting to a different language, culture,way of life is a big deal for most. Usually the ones who make it there when they are younger, for instance before they are in their twenties,adapt faster and the integration process seems to be more seamless.After that, it can get tougher with more hiccups in terms of culture shock, bringing up kids with a decent blend of values inherited from the birth country and the new country.Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The children often bear the brunt of it while trying to cope with the old and the new simultaneously.

This makes me think, as many random things do-does it make more sense to just shed one's old ways and jump into a new life, embracing whatever it has to offer-kinda like do in Rome what the Romans do(have no clue what the right phrase is)-'cause the more one dithers and tries to get the right fit and blend of the old and new scenarios and all of that, it takes it's toll on one's emotional equilibrium.It's almost like trying to convince oneself that one is still the same old person, just that the physical boundaries of one's residence have changed.There is often a concerted effort to cook, eat, pray, talk in the same fashion that one used to and the thought that somehow if one abandoned all of that, it would amount to being a traitor to one's birth country.

All in all, I have often felt that the life of an immigrant is far more complex than it appears to be-once you get past the glitz and glamour, there are some pretty strong undercurrents of adjustment issues, which lead me to conclude that it's perhaps not all that it's cracked up to be.How else would one explain the inexplicable longing people have, after living many years abroad,to get back and enjoy the twilight years amidst people who eat,talk,pray and behave like oneself? What I ponder over is-why can't we completely and irrevocably give ourselves up to the new land and become one with it in every sense of the word? I don't have an answer to that yet-the more one delves into the human psyche, one realizes there is a whole world in there to explore-amazingly fascinating.