This is Part 1 of a four-part series about Southminster residents who have lived abroad. Meet Ellen Palmer, who’s lived at Southminster for a decade, Marnie Rodgers, a 4-1/2-year resident, and newcomer (two months) Dianne Hockett. Remember as you read this that these intrepid women all boldly ventured abroad in the days before everyone had cell phones as a lifeline!
Paris, France: Ellen Palmer
In 2007, when Southminster resident Ellen Palmer was on a community college trip to visit places Impressionist artists had painted in France, she got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Her cousin was taking a work assignment in Dubai and needed someone to rent her spacious, furnished Paris apartment for an entire year. Palmer threw caution to the wind, returned home to re-pack and, within a month, came back to Paris as an actual resident, not just a tourist.
She faced many challenges. “I was there by myself, did not speak French and had no computer.” The first month, her routine focused on going to the boulangerie down the street to get salad, bread and a chocolate éclair. Every day when she left the shop, she would say what she thought were the right words in French: “Thank you, I love this.” However, when her aunt and cousins, who spoke several languages and had lived all over the world came to visit, they informed her that she was actually telling the shopkeeper, “I am so beautiful.”
“The experience of living in Paris enriched me greatly, compassion-wise and empathy-wise in terms of understanding what it feels like for people who go to a country where they can’t read or speak the language.”
The UNC grad’s advice to anyone who wants to live abroad is to remember that travel is as important as education. “Learn a language other than your own. Remember to show kindness and smile, which is the same in any language. Have a plan but be open to changing it. Oh, and try to make a lot of money.”
Shanghai, China: Dianne Hockett
Twenty years ago, when Southminster resident Dianne Hockett was in the College of Business at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, the dean asked her to go to Shanghai, China as part of an exchange program. She would be teaching English to Chinese Nationals who were getting their master’s degrees in English.
“I was really afraid initially and learned not to travel alone, even though I was told that no one would ever attack an American because they would be killed. I had traveled a lot, but when you live in a country, it’s very different from being on a tour.”
She also discovered differences in school environments for students in Shanghai. “I had to teach in gloves, because they always opened the classroom windows even in cold weather, and the radiator didn’t work, so we had no heat. Also, I wanted to move the little stage where I was expected to teach closer to the students. They didn’t tell me I couldn’t, but I realized that wasn’t allowed when I asked some students to move it, we found that it was nailed to the floor.”
Hockett recommends to anyone planning to live abroad to try and make connections to help ease your way as you get acclimated. “For example, before I left the U.S., I told the wife of the Chinese couple who ran a cleaning establishment near me in Rock Hill that I would be living in Shanghai. She happened to have a brother there who scouted the place I would be living and came to see me to make sure I was comfortable.”
Her overall takeaways from living abroad: “You’ll see that America isn’t the only country in the world where people thrive. It didn’t take me long to learn to be more flexible and to appreciate where I was and how people lived. Be open to experiences, people will like you and be curious about how you live.”
Lucerne, Switzerland: Marnie Rodgers
Even though Southminster resident Marnie Rodgers graduated from Smith College with a degree in government, all potential employers wanted to know was how fast she could type. So, she went to secretarial school and then looked for a job in Paris or London. Rodgers was offered a secretarial job in Lucerne at the European headquarters for A. C. Nielsen company. Her family was friends of the Nielsens. She arrived at age 23 with enormous ignorance of what lay ahead but full of youthful enthusiasm.
The first life lesson came when she and her friend who had been travelling with her were required to get off the train crossing the border into Switzerland because of the work permit stamped in her passport. They had to spend the night so she could have a health inspection the next morning. It was a lesson in humility, not speaking the language in a strange country, as so many immigrants experience.
Rodgers learned that although French and German are primarily spoken in Switzerland, there are two other languages, Italian and Romansh, and dialects that vary from region to region. Although not fluent, Rodgers spoke French, but unfortunately no German or any of the Swiss languages or dialects. Despite the language barrier though, Rodgers learned many interesting things, both cultural and historical.
Although Rodgers recalls an unpleasant boss and a difficult landlady during her time in Lucerne, she is grateful she had the opportunity. She made many friends, had lots of fun adventures and is proud she did it!