Seeking Multiculturalism After Moving Abroad

I’m sitting down writing this while living in Porto, Portugal and staying up later than normal to watch the Super Bowl. Today is February 14th, Valentine’s Day, and to be honest, it doesn’t appear to be that big of a deal here. We’re also at the tail end of Chinese New Year (CNY) 2022, the year of the Tiger.

All of these events and holidays around the same time got me thinking. How does one find multiculturalism while living abroad sometimes in homogenous countries?

Over the past few days, I didn’t hear much buzz about the Super Bowl here in Portugal and to be honest, why should I? The Portuguese are much more interested in soccer (football), basketball, handball and volleyball that (American) football doesn’t even register among the local population.

I did however see a few people asking on a Facebook group if others were going to watch and where one could watch. The harsh reality for the top American cultural sporting event is that its timing is terrible here in Europe. For example, I stayed up til 11:30 PM WET just to catch kickoff. On a Sunday night, most bars are going to close around that time and max they’ll be open til 1:00 am on Monday morning. That wouldn’t even get you to half time.

Another problem is that if there’s not a critical mass in this case of American football fans in a city, then it wouldn’t even make sense for bar owner to think about staying open. For example, when my wife and I lived in Singapore, there were a couple of bars that would run event promotions that had set prices for entry so that people could get their Super Bowl food, drink, and vibes during the early morning on Monday. Yup, that’s right. Monday morning. Those that attended would have to call in sick or just schedule a day off from work.

Okay, so this is an extreme, but what about other holidays or events that don’t have fixed times? Well, I can tell you from walking around the city, the commercialism that exists around Valentine’s Day just doesn’t seem to be as big of a thing. It’s a relief if you ask me. You can certainly get a card for a loved one, a box of chocolates or flowers too, but not everything around is dripping in red, pink, and white. The restaurants are running fixed price menus that gouge couples wallets.

Culturally though, this might be something you are wanting to take part in while living abroad. You’re still wanting to bring your American customs, traditions, and holidays into your host country. That’s fine, but just beware, it might not be the same and people might not care.

So how do you find out about non-local events? There are several great ways. Depending on your generation, Facebook groups might be a fantastic resource for such a thing. Expats groups or groups with foreigners of your nationality living in the city you’re moving to or living in do exist and being in one of those groups will give you instant access to others who share your cultural background as well as a place to network to find an event or start one.

Another way is to move with the movers or at least follow them or become friends with them. What I mean by that is, like anywhere, there are certain people that are just in the know. If you know them, you’re going to have access to a lot more information about what’s happening in your city than those that don’t follow them. Be friends with a variety of these people and you’ll surely not miss some really cool gatherings.

The final way that I’ll recommend is be a trend starter. Don’t wait for things to happen, but be bold and start something. You never know who else is interested until you put your idea out there and endless opportunities can come out of that. Depending on the type of event, you might actually get a decent amount of local participation over time.

There was an event that was started years ago in Busan, Korea at a hotel bar/beer garden to celebrate Oktoberfest. A few locals and some foreigners were there for the early editions of the celebration and by word of mouth, this annual gathering gained massive popularity, not only among foreigners but among Koreans as well. It was amazing to see the sheer volume of people who attended year on year.

If you’re interested in seeing how a smaller event started by an expat married to a local in Portugal turned out, click the video below. Wei Ling is the creator of Come Eat Dinner, which is a private supper club to celebrate Asian food, often times Singaporean food. Wei Ling is Singaporean of Chinese descent, and she’s an amazing cook and host. She tries to balance the number of foreigners and locals that attend the small dinners so that there’s great opportunity of cross-cultural conversation to happen. Kalie and I were blessed to be able to attend her event celebrating Chinese New Year.

Whatever you decide to do about pursuing multicultural events while living abroad, just be proactive and go into it with an open mind. It won’t always be exactly the same, but with a positive attitude, it’s bound to be fun or at least a good laugh.