Since I finished highschool, I've lived in four countries in two years. Four different cultures, nations. Four different worlds, basically.
I have met a few Lithuanians along my way and they all seemed so different from what I see around me now, living in the capital of my belved country.
Now, getting to the point, I must say that every - or nearly every - Lithuanian who's lived - or is living - abroad complains a lot about my country, in the most extreme manner.
'There's nothing good about this country anymore - the people never smile, the prices are high, the jobs are shitty and none of them pay you well', they say.
I don't mean to say it is not at all like that, but c'mon - why did they come back if it's so bad for them here? I see what they're saying, but I see good things, too.
I just don't understand why people who are living abroad spread all this negativity through their impolite and rude comments in Lithuanian online media. If you hate it so much, why go back to it? This really frustrates me and I have no way of telling that to people who are living their happy lives in their miraculous countries yet proving to be the most negative of all in the comments sections.
Every time I come back from my adventure abroad, I try to contain myself and not speak badly of my country. Yes, in Sweden you earn ten times more than in Lithuania and pay almost the same price for your groceries, but do I really have to point out that you are welcomed when you are searching for a job here instead of being dismissed as a foreigner in nationalist Swedish job market?
Personally, my adventures abroad make me love my own country more and more. Since I moved to Sweden for the first time, I became incomparably more patriotic than I was before. I got my values sorted out and the fact really sunk in - I just could not speak badly of the country I grew up and live happily in. Surely, there are bad things and I am free to point them out, but I don't see why I should compare it to something totally different.
Am I really the rare type? Someone please back me up.
I completely agree with you 100% :)
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