Survival isn’t an easy game. It gets exponentially more difficult when you find yourself surrounded by a population that speaks a different language, eats different food, with different cultural norms than what we’re used to. Whether you’re on a business trip, overseas vacation, or a combat deployment, learning to live among a group of people wholly different than your own is imperative to survival and success. Ingratiating yourself to a foreign populace while also protecting your own safety is a complex but critical skill for anyone looking to go abroad.
Instead of opining on the topic with our best estimates, we compiled a panel of RECOIL OFFGRID contributors who have spent their careers living and working alongside foreigners, for an in-depth discussion about best practices for navigating this nuanced survival situation. We put together a list of questions that address both how to endear yourself as an outsider, as well as how to look out for yourself along the way.
The Panelists:
War correspondent and freelance journalist Hollie McKay, who has spent time working near the frontlines in war-torn countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, and Ukraine (see Issue 51 for Hollie’s article about escaping the fall of Afghanistan.)
Military veteran and former law enforcement officer Timothy Lacy, who spent years training Afghan Border Patrol forces as a private military contractor (see Issue 46 for our Spotlight interview with Tim.)
Afghan-born Army Special Forces sergeant Kawa Mawlayee, who emigrated to America during the Russian invasion of his home country. Not only did he have to spend his childhood growing up in American culture, but he also then went on to spend years specializing in working alongside foreign fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan as a teacher and combat leader specializing in irregular warfare. (See Issue 52 for our Spotlight interview with Kawa.)
1. What is the number-one rule you abide by to assimilate into and survive among a population that’s foreign to you?
Hollie McKay: I have two rules. First of all, never go in without research. Have a sense of who you’re going into. What is the standard dress code, what do they eat, how do they have their meals, what is the cultural norm between men and women interacting? So, don’t go in blind. Do your research. Second to that, I always say the number-one rule, no matter what, is to learn the word thank you in their language. I think thank you is the most important word in any language. If you can’t say anything else, you can nod and smile and say thank you, and that will get you a long way. Just in terms of assimilations and in terms of being welcome and accepted in that community.
My number-one rule has always been
