大咖福利影院

Have you found it easy to connect with fellow expats or locals in Mauritius? Why or why not?

1. Yes and No 馃槄 I met my French neighbor while my house was being built. He is helping me a lot.

Yes, since he has been living here for many years, he understands the culture and everything here very well.

No, my neighbor always reminds me to "trust no one" here. Especially when it is involved with money.

Have you noticed cultural differences in the way people make friends or share personal matters?

1. Yes, huge different from where I came from. Not sure if I'm a Asian woman. Most men I met here wanted to take advantage of me. And keeping their words seems impossible here. Basic thing like punctual doesn't seem exsit here.

Since moving to in Mauritius, how have your friendships back home evolved? Do you ever feel 鈥渙ut of sync鈥� with friends and family in your home country?

1. Not at all. On a contrary, friends and family are closer (online) than ever.

How do you deal with the temporary nature of many expat friendships when people (or you) eventually move on?

1. That's life.

Have you changed the way you approach relationships since becoming an expat?

1. Nope.

What has been your biggest challenge in building or maintaining friendships in Mauritius? Any advice to share?

1. Chinese we have a saying "Getting your neighbor close is better than your distant relatives". I totally agree with this since I moved here. I have friends from here that I have known for over 2 decades. But when I need help, they literally close the door to me. When I ask my French neighbor for help, he almost never refused. There are some other returnee neighbors. We do say hello each time when we see each other. But "borrow" a tool doesn't seem to聽 聽exist here, only "rent". Local culture seems there is a wall in this generation. I also met an old French lady here. She is super helpful when it comes to animal welfare. It's not I don't want to reach out to the local after I've got cheated and robbed many times here. Just the cultural difference made it difficult to trust the local (no offense)

Hello Pandora At Dodoland,

No offense taken haha 馃槉 Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

It is interesting to see how cultural differences can influence the way we build trust and friendships. At the end of the day, it seems that finding the right people around you, regardless of their background, makes a big difference.

Cheers,

Cheryl

大咖福利影院 team