Having friends who live close by seems ideal. It doesn’t make sense to go through the trouble of investing in people who live in other places. Why go through the trouble of downloading a Chat Translation Messenger, when you have people who you can easily communicate with. All this makes sense in theory, but there is a lot you will miss out on if this is what you stick to. It is easy to stay in your comfort zone where things are familiar and recognizable. Restricting yourself within a local circle will keep you from experiencing so much more.
Here are a few reasons why you need to make international friends:
You break the language barrier.
The biggest obstacle in overseas friendships can be the difference in language and the lingo you use. Fear not, there are apps and messengers like NEEO which is a Chat Translation Messenger. These allow you to communicate with people in your preferred language, it will simply translate your messages in real-time so that your friends can understand you. Over time both of you will start to pick up bits and pieces of each other’s language.
You get to experience a different culture.
Having friends that do not share your culture is always interesting. You can experience an entire culture from the comfort of your own home. How they spend their lives, their norms and local lore, their holidays, and what they hold sacred. You move past what you see on TV or read about in books and get an authentic look into how they function. Having this perspective is a fascinating way of realizing that the world we live in is diverse. You find out that everyone everywhere has their own set of beliefs and norms that they are accustomed to. This helps you break the illusion of social construct. Your friend in Korea may have a very different life from you, but they, like you are just ordinary people living their lives.
You become open-minded.
Once you realize there is more to the world than you knew, it is easier to accept new experiences. You realize that everyone has their own set of beliefs and practices and you learn to accept them. You become more tolerant of people from other races and religions. This helps deconstruct the concept of “us and them”. Interacting with people from different regions makes you realize despite the differences, we are all the same. We have the same struggles, the same aspirations, and the same structure. So if you find yourself unable to understand or accept differences, start making friends abroad. People who are different from you, help change the way you view the world.
Makes it easy to travel.
Having friends in other countries is extremely beneficial when you want to travel. Not only does it motivate you to go to places you have never seen, but also saves you a lot of money and effort. Going to another country can be intimidating for many reasons. But if you have a friend living there, you get a free guide to help you through. You do not have to worry about hotels and room availabilities. You will always have a couch to crash on. Not only that, but your friend will also know the local language to help you function and all the hot places you need to go to. You can avoid all the tourist traps and experience the place in all its essence. They will know all the best places to eat, the best local bars and hot spots for you to visit.
You will have deeper friendships
Friends from other countries that you do not meet every day help you recognize and develop deeper friendships. Time and distance stop defining your relationships. You gain a deeper sense of connection to the world. Long-distance friendships instill a greater sense of attraction and affection between friends. You begin to appreciate things from a whole new perspective.
Emotional ties have little to do with distance. You may find better friends with people living thousands of miles away than those close to home. We may live different lives with different norms and customs, but at the end of the day, people are just people. All of us are just looking for a connection to the world we live in. What better way than to acquaint yourself with others going through the same, somewhere out there in the world.
