Expatriates are different, decides an American living in Australia.
Over lunch with my French co-worker and his Swedish wife, the three of us agreed that the expatriate life renders us unusual by definition. Not only do we constantly evaluate the countries we choose to live in, but also our own countries of birth. The expatriate observes the world in a semi-detached state that non-expatriates don't even consider… “
Something every NZer on their OE understands very well. We head to the other side of the world, look around, evaluate, and then if we do finally return we bring back the best of what we find. OE has really built a more cosmopolitan NZ.
Our excellent eateries are just one very visible (and tasty) sign of that important freedom that we still have to travel.
2 comments:
Very true what he says about semi-detachment. The experience of being an expat, though, often depends on whether one has ended up is a significantly better place than where one left.
I (British) have a very different feeling about having just moved to Canada than my wife (South African). We both love it, and are very grateful to be here, but the alternatives for me are a little brighter than for her and her levels of appreciation are just that much higher.
Expats are also able to get away with a lot more - and are free to criticise other immigrants in a way locals aren't !
True. And that is for this exact reason we plan to come back in NZ one day.
Post a Comment