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"I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!" - Alice, Alice In Wonderland.
Appreciation.

It's this gnawing feeling inside my heart.
I've been reading expat forums, reports, or watching debating shows lately.
I unfailingly surprise myself with my reactions each time I look at these.
What tugs at my heart is how some expats can love the new country they are in, how some hate them, and how some grew up in these foreign countries and yet have little or almost no appreciation of what the country has given to them.

I'm not a super patriotic citizen.
Don't get me wrong, I like my country, but I admit that there are flaws too.
After all, there isn't a perfect country in the world.
But everytime I see someone giving critical views of a country, I get upset.
Really, I do. Even if they aren't talking about my country.

It may have something to do with my principal I guess.
I always believe that speaking with tact when you're commenting about a country is the best.
Honestly speaking, I get rather annoyed by ppl who don't seem to speak with sensitivity when they're talking about such a touchy issue.

First of all, no matter what you've been through in a country, there must be something that you've learnt about it.
May it be good or bad, you can't deny that you HAVE learnt a lesson.
Every single impression that a citizen in a country leaves you with causes you to view a country in a certain manner.
If you're a wise fella, you'll probably view any situation with an open mind and take it as a lesson.
It's incredibly irritating to see someone judge a country according to one person they've met.
Srsly? You must have more brains then that.

It never fails to "amaze" me when I see how ungrateful some ppl can be.
Just the other day, I heard someone speaking on the bus with a her local friend.
They were discussing about the prospects of the foreign lady.
They were discussing about the economy at some point and the foreign lady, said something that made me roll my eyes.
She said, "it's only good for you that the ____ currency is dropping, it isn't benefitting my country at all. Besides, I can't wait to return to my country, the ppl here are so apathetic".
Then there was this awkward silence between them. Of cos, wth do you expect?
Your friend's a local.

In my mind (to be perfectly bitchy and true), I was thinking "Then get the fuck back to your country. Stop living off our resources and being so unappreciative".
Even though ppl can be rather apathetic here, you can't deny that there ARE ppl who bother to help.
It just depends on who you've met.
If you met a dickhead in a place, are you brainlessly assuming that everyone in that place is a dickhead?
Her friend must have felt offended judging from her response.
Even if these are your true thoughts, pls, keep them to yourself.
Nobody wants to hear such unappreciative thoughts.

Sure, you can be frank all you want- but pick the right audience and moment.
All I can say is, be appreciative for everything the country has given to you- the good, the bad.
Every situation you're in is a learning experience.
Instead of being critical, why don't you learn to see things in a broader perspective and stop being so narrow minded?
Life will turn out to be much more fun when that's the case.
Life isn't a bed of roses or box of chocolates and it'll never be.
But if you stop being judgemental and start viewing things in another perspective, I'm pretty damn sure it'll be at least 100 times better than it is now.

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All right. Getting tired from typing on phone.
Gonna sleep since I'm going out tmr.

PS. I've already been trying to get my point across briefly. There's this group of ppl in a certain country that seems to be more critical than ever but I'm going to leave that out. See? I'm demonstrating what I said! XD