Fishing Frenzy

If you come from a Western country where the first thing a doctor does when he sees you at the office is prescribe you an antibiotic, you are going to have a hard time adjusting to life as an expat in certain other countries. Most places outside of the United States do not have the addiction to prescription medication that Western doctors do, and if you look at a country like Bulgaria, many Americans have culture shock in regards to the medicine. This is because the first line of defense in Bulgaria is not prescription medication; rather, the doctor will tell you to go visit an apothecary and have them prescribe you some natural herbs and plants so that your body can naturally heal itself with its own immune system.

This comes as a shock to many first-time expats when they visit a doctor in another country, as they are expecting to be given a golden antibiotic just as they would back in the United States. But the thing of it is, once you get outside of the U.S., you find that most other countries do not rely on any products or prescription medication as much as the States does. Instead, they promote natural medicine and natural healing through rest and plenty of liquids. After all, this is the natural way our bodies take care of themselves.

Many people choose to travel abroad specifically so that they can help others such as with the Red Cross or other charitable organizations who help those who cannot help themselves. And if you are traveling as a professional expat to other countries to donate your time and resources to help those less fortunate, there are a number of ways you could do so even if you aren't part of an organization.

Thankfully, one of the ways expats can help out is by donating some of their own time and resources to help the less fortunate. For example, even if your city doesn't have a soup kitchen you can still go out and buy the necessary ingredients to make sandwiches, which you can then pass out among the homeless people as you walk down the street. You can also set up your own soup kitchen by having a once a month free meal hosted at a local church or other building where you get together with other expats who were willing to donate their time and resources to provide food and shelter for those who are less fortunate.

One way that you can deal with beggars if you are living on the ground as an expat is to start dressing like the locals and speaking the language. This will allow you to gently tell the beggars no thanks and be on your way. After a few days of realizing that you speak the local language and are actually living there, the beggars on your normal route will simply stop asking you and you can go about your business normally.