12 January 2009

The joys of an expat lifestyle



From:


H
To:



S
Date:


Monday, 13 December 2004 07:28:11 pm
Subject:


Why I pine for an expat life...

This was first written as an email in 2004, and based on my life in Kobe Japan (photo on left) and in Vientiane Laos.


Dear S,

You expressed dismay when I suggested life in another country can match and even surpass aspects of living in your own country.



There are positives and negatives in any situation, here are the positives for me:






1) Social life as an expatriate is much faster, more ALIVE, and full of new and unknown opportunities.
As an Engineer I have to put numbers on it and would say that as an expat the degree of community acceptance and social knitting with neighbours, work mates, local shops, church or club etc... is about 4 to 5 times faster than normal life in Australia.

For example: In 6 months as an expat in Japan, Kobe city, I had achieved a degree of social integration and networking, knitting and linking that took me 2 to 3+ years to achieve in Australia.

In Japan especially I noticed this phenomenon especially. After 6 months I was already a ' golden oldie' in the expat circles I moved in. I ‘knew the ropes’ and helped others. I’ve been back to Melbourne after a long absence a few times. I didn't feel that kind of community connection even in 3 years of working and studying and living in Melbourne.
The friendships I made in Japan were no deeper nor shallower than those I made living in Australia.
Japan was only one instance of this speeded up social interaction phenomenon. I have noticed this in other places I lived overseas (Laos, Thailand, Switzerland).


2) Lifestyle - " the foreigner"... the 'gaijin' the 'falang' the outsider... this appeals to me personally for some reason. Admittedly I have had good jobs overseas as teacher and engineer, as well as volunteer and as a backpacker.
The status of being outside the dominant society is something I have enjoyed as an expat. I have never really had any desire, or hope, to be accepted totally as a local. I have enjoyed the respect, the curiosity and the freedom to look at a society from some small distance as a quasi outsider.
Yes .... it has its drawbacks because some societies see you as a white imperialist, as Mr Moneybags, or a "backpacker", but there are ways to live with that, and to blend in (for example: even now, when travelling in Thailand as tourist, I dress such that, I am 'mistaken' as an expat, “oh you live in Bangkok ?”, or “How long have you worked here ?” once I have achieved that level, I am satisfied that I have hit the right mix of dress and casualness and blend-in-ness)






3) As an Expat I see that Australia is only ONE of many universes...
It is good to be able to stand back and see Australia with an outsider's eyes – sense of perspective.

When I returned from overseas - what I saw in Australia is... well that's a different topic, - ask me another time or email me :-P


4) Being back in Australia: I see how many good and wonderful things we have in Australia and that we can stand up to strengthen these good things. I see key things that need help as well.

[Editor: orig article had more on the undesirable changes in Australia since first leaving the place. That's another topic.]

Well there you have it, that's it in a nutshell for "why I like expat life" and how I feel about being back.

NB: I don't claim these things as UNIVERSAL truths, there are many expats who did not experience this kind of thing, these are purely my own observations.
cheers




These nations are the most hospitable to expatriates, according to a new report.


1 comment:

  1. I recognize the photo above. IT's somewhere in Kyoto.

    See th ejob vacancies in Chinese Uni of HK:
    http://perntc.per.cuhk.edu.hk/personnel/jobvacancy.asp?category=1

    ReplyDelete


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