Tips for Becoming an Ugly Expat

Maria Foley is a Canadian blogger who lived overseas with her family for several years.  During that time, she wrote many funny blogs about the mistakes she made while living in Australia, France, and Singapore.  From her experience, she developed a list of tips on how to be a really terrible expat.

1. First off, she suggests you don’t waste time doing research about the country you’re moving to or its people.  After all, the country’s history or cultural values aren’t really important.  And those cross-cultural training companies are just trying to take your money.

2.  Something else you should do is to isolate yourself. If you lock yourself up in your overseas condo, you won’t have to have contact with those silly local people. Spend all your time at the exclusive expatriate club in town so you can criticize the locals with your fellow expats.

3. Next, show off how much money you have, especially if you live in a developing nation. Your wealth will show the locals that you are someone important and to be admired.

4. One more tip I’ll leave you with: Speak your native language the whole time, especially if it is English. The locals will have to get used to the fact that your language is the global language of business and of educated expats everywhere.

Maria’s blog can be read at www.iwasanexpatwife.com.

Your Status If You’re Not “From Here”

During our conversation with Tigers catcher Brayan Peña, we learned about his 1999 defection to the United States to pursue his dream of playing Major League Baseball.  It turns out, many others have had this dream over the years since Cuba became a closed society.

Since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 in Cuba, dozens of professional baseball players have defected to the U.S.  Currently, 17 Cubans play baseball for the MLB, including two who defected just this year.  For professional ballplayers, the allure of defecting is to play a sport they love at the highest level—and for the potential of huge salaries.  Coming from a poor country like Cuba, this is a huge incentive.  The downside, as mentioned by Brayan in our interview is the risk of arrest, punishment, and losing all chances to play again.  A bigger risk is the possible harm to their families, or never seeing them again, if they stay behind. So America still remains a symbol of freedom to many, even though we continue on our journey toward a more perfect union. 

One question many of my students ask from this story is: “What is a defector?”  Let’s take a simple look at the ways internationals might come to the United States.

One-way ticket:                    Round-trip ticket:

Defector                                             Expatriate worker

Refugee/Asylee                               Migrant worker

Immigrant

Defectors, asylees, and refugees all move to another country because they are running away from something.  Refugees are escaping life-threatening events like war or famine.  Asylees (people seeking asylum) are escaping persecution because of their political or religious beliefs.  Defectors are escaping a country whose government is trying to keep its citizens locked up inside the country.  

Refugees fleeing Kibati, Democratic Republic of Congo (source: Julien Harneis)

Immigrants choose to move to another country for reasons of work, opportunity, or family.

Expatriates move to another country temporarily—for a few years—because of job training or education. 

source: fotolia.com

 Migrant workers move in and out of an area with regularity, often following seasonal work, with less opportunity to put down roots.