This was an article that was posted on Facebook from a
journalist from The Age, an Australian newspaper. If you are an expat, I think you will find
the article relatable to say the least and it made me smile as some of the
things written is how I live, people I socialize with and stories that actually
ring true.
Just to clarify what an ‘expat’ is. I use the term all the time myself, but some
people I have spoken to have not heard the term used before. So for the record an expatriate (sometimes shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or
permanently residing in
a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing. The word
comes from the Latin terms ex ("out of") and patria ("country, fatherland"). In its broadest sense, an expatriate is any
person living in a different country from where they are a citizen. In common
usage, the term is often used in the context of professionals sent abroad by
their companies, as opposed to locally hired staff. The differentiation found
in common usage usually comes down to socio-economic factors, so skilled professionals working in another country are
described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer who has moved to another
country to earn more money might be labelled an 'immigrant'
or 'migrant worker'. There is no set definition and
usage varies with context, for example the same person may be seen as an
"expatriate" by his home country and a "migrant worker"
where he works. Retirement abroad, in contrast, usually makes one
an "expatriate".
Want to make
friends?
Move to another
country?
Maybe somewhere
third world?
While you are there
you might meet a few of the locals who will eventually enter your social
circle, but the most likely event is that you will end up with a large group of
some of the best friends you've ever had, and they'll all be fellow expats.
This process will take about a week.
There's a
refreshing lack of pretension among expat communities.
Expats, in general,
are friendly. They want to meet you, and know your story. They're fun to be
around. They're people who "do" rather than plan. I've never lived long enough in another
country to think of myself as an expat. I have, however, hung out with plenty
of expat communities in countries around the world, and I've seen a similar
theme in the people I've met. They share certain traits that anyone would do
well to take on.
Expats tend to be
adventurous, to be risk-takers. After all, they've already left their friends,
their homes, their comfort zones and probably most of their possessions in
another country to begin a new life abroad. That takes guts. It's only a
certain type of person who'll do that. So
the ones you meet living overseas are the ones who are prepared to take a punt
on things working out for the best. They'll jump in the back of that tuk-tuk.
They'll eat at that restaurant. They'll board that boat. This attitude to
"doing" things is pretty likeable. It's rare you'll find an expat who
sits around talking about all the things they'd love to do, without actually
making it happen. People who've gone to live overseas are the type to just do
it, to stop all of the planning and the wondering and just take things on.
Another thing you
notice about expats is that, regardless of the fact that they might have been
living in their adopted country for five, or 10, or 20 years, and that they're
holding down full-time jobs, and have maybe even started a family, they still
seem to live life as though they're on a permanent holiday. They're out most nights of the week,
socialising, hanging out with friends. They're going to restaurants and bars
and living it up. They're still travelling, too, going off on weekends away to
other parts of the country, or to neighbouring countries. There's always the
sense that money doesn't matter so much – it's more about how much you enjoy
yourself, how much you see. There's no
reason why everyone can't live like that, why you can't treat your own city
like a holiday destination. But people rarely do it. Masterchef is on.
Expats are
incredibly friendly, and open to new people. There are no "set"
groups of friends – they'll take anyone in. I was in Seoul for a couple of days
before I'd been invited to play in a football team and go drink beers
afterwards at the pub. I was in Dubai for about six hours before I'd been taken
out by complete strangers and shown a good time. There's a refreshing lack of pretension among
expat communities. There's very little of the "where did you go to
school" snobbery. Admittedly that's occasionally replaced with "what
are you doing here" snobbery (English teachers to the back of the queue),
but in general no one cares where you came from, or which school you went to,
or who you worked for back home. You're here now, everything's different. Capital cities in Australia can be pretty
cliquey places, where everyone already has their mates and they're not much
interested in finding any more. For expats, however, there's a constant
revolving world of friends as old mates move out of your life and new people
appear. It creates a culture of openness.
Strangely, I found
that the more dangerous a country is, the friendlier its expat population will
be. Maybe that's just a numbers thing – with fewer expats around they're still
a novelty. There's not the "just another Aussie" thing you might find
in, say, London. Regardless of where you
go, however, if you do decide to move overseas you'll always make friends,
probably with some very interesting, friendly, dynamic people and people from
whom we could learn a thing or two.
I am proud to be an Expat.
The Expat community in Kenya is exactly as described in
the article, that I can attest too. Especially
in this day and age with social media, especially Facebook-the expat community
shrinks a little and there is more interaction that ever before. I am still to meet fellow Aussies and as I
forge my way in a new country, and I am making lifelong friends with other
Expats. I am also slowly making Kenyan
friends which I am proud to bring into and introduce into my social group.
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