Expat Advice: Relationships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Milwaukee

What is your current status? Are you single, dating, in a long-term relationship, married or divorced?

Married.

What is it like in your country of residence for someone with your relationship status (married/divorced/dating)? If you're single, how do you meet other people? Do English-speaking people tend to gravitate to certain parts of your city?

My experience is probably shaped by my cultural background and experiences I had growing up as a young boy. I try to do things as often as I am able to but borrowing from my childhood experiences and what I remember seeing my parents do or not do. Life in the US is very different from life in Uganda mainly because relationships in the US tend to be very limited in scope. The definition of friend and relative is quite different from what it is in the African context. Nonetheless, you try your best to adapt hoping to make the best of everything around you. Also, while meeting people might not be difficult since you come across lots of people during the ordinary course of business, how you grow those relationships is very much determined by what is already predetermined by virtue of what values and orientation exists in your circle of people around you. To the extent that those values are a function of earlier childhood memories and upbringing, introducing new people to this circle is not always something practical.

If you have children, what advice would you give to others making a similar transition to your country of residence?

Children have no problem adapting. In fact, while they will always cry and lament missing "friends" if moving, it takes them no time before forming new friends. It is the adults that find it difficult to adjust. Ask the kids 6 months later if they miss their "friends" and they have no clue what you are talking about.

If you do not have children, do you generally spend your social time with other expat couples? If not, what else do you like to do as a couple?

Children or no children, expats have a tendency to cling together because, they all are defined by their status first, which inevitably places them in certain locations. Also, their experiences tend to be the same and, because they are each away from home, their issues tend to be similar and very easy to relate to each other.

If you are married or in a relationship with a person of another nationality, how has this experience enriched you as a person. What kind of challenges do you face?

None in that regard.

If you are a single parent, what advice would you give to others considering moving abroad?

N/A

What would be the best advice you could give someone with your relationship status that lives in your country of residence? Any other thoughts?

Try to forget this is not where you were born. Try as best you can to pretend this is HOME. Trying to live life with 2 different HOMES especially when and if you have to raise kids born here creates issues that are not easy to deal with. While it is HOME for the kids, what you consider HOME might be thousands of miles away thereby imposing different loyalty and commitment including long-term goals.