Life as an Expatriate 寓居國外者

I read an thoughtful if moody article on another blog about life as an expatriate the other day. It made me think about what it means to be an expat and why people do it. It also made me think about my own life of foreign roamings and separation from my homeland.

The article by a man who was a professor teaching overseas, described an acquaintance (another expat) who called him to say goodbye. He was sick, tired and alone. According to the author, he had been away from his home for more than 20 years, long enough for people to move away, die or not care about his existence. He himself was now ready to fade out of existence.

I don't agree with this negative view 悲觀的看法of expat life, which I would call the 'exile' life seemingly favored by literary types. Some of these people choose the expat life in cultures that are far distant from their home countries because they want the freedom that isolation brings.

If someone is away from their home for a long time, then they should adjust to their surroundings 適應環境and make it their new home....if they want to be happy. Expat life can be refreshing, stimulating and exciting. At the same time, expats can also make friends, establish a family and learn the language of their new home if it is different. That's what I have done.

I remember my wife and I attending nightly sessions on parenting concerns at a neighborhood church in Taipei where our children were attending summer school 暑期班. We had a great time sharing stories with other parents, and hearing about their hopes and concerns. One mother had just come back from 5 years in Ghana and she was concerned about her children's readjustment to local schools. We learned a lot, but discovered that as parents we also shared a lot of similarities as well.

(These flowers in the photos are commonly planted on hillsides around here...and are a good challenge for my zoom lens.)