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.