EXPATS, Expats, ExPaTs ...

oh it's crying time again you/i gonna leave you,i can feel and hear what's your heart saying:Pexpat life....sometimes it's enjoyable ,sometimes it's painful

A bit of two with a lot of three.
But .... you missed weather expat.
Ones who were pissed off with crap winters. I'm a bit that that as well.

none of the above. What about the category for people who just wanted to do something different?

mas fred wrote:

A bit of two with a lot of three.
But .... you missed weather expat.
Ones who were pissed off with crap winters. I'm a bit that that as well.

Hi Fred,

Sunny weather and English speaking country were my only two motivations after #1 political ones.
Craving for sunshine is mentioned even in my profile.

ECS wrote:

none of the above. What about the category for people who just wanted to do something different?

Correct.
The adventure expat. Thumbs up!

HaileyinHongKong wrote:

I must be #6.

Combination of #2 and #3 and #6

I am a combination of 3 and 4.

Married in Laos and live there with my family but work away overseas and come home for my leave breaks.

HaileyinHongKong wrote:

I must be #6.

Hi Hailey,

I had to update the topic and added #6 to my list.
That makes you 7). now. 

Expats are the steam escaping a boiling pot. 

Isn't that nice??? 

I reviewing the post at length I would consider myself to be;

1,3,4,5,and 6.

Not yet number 7 as my 7 yr old daughter will need funding for years to come yet.

2 & 3, that's what I am, or maybe better, 3 & 2.
After marrying we took a sabbatical to enjoy Puerto Rico and then I started a new business.

Gary wrote:

2 & 3, that's what I am, or maybe better, 3 & 2.
After marrying we took a sabbatical to enjoy Puerto Rico and then I started a new business.

Hi Gary, 

3 & 2 is better if it happened in that order ... 

1). Political expat – somebody who can never put up with the politics of his country leaders and manages to move to a new country of his choice on his own.

Yes, I disliked the politics in the countries I knew, so I came up with a new country of my choice. Unfortunately the plan to lead an Indonesian island to independence under me as king failed on a mere formality - my party, the "Partai Kerajaan Batam" wasn't admitted for the elections in 1999. So I founded an (unfortunately short-lived) micronation within the borders of neighbouring Singapore instead (see http://lasia.germasia.com/History.html).

2). Elegant expat – someone who (selling his property in his home country or not) moves to new shores where he becomes a resident acquiring house/land and maybe a business.

I also owned a property and a business in some of the places I lived in!
(Does that make me elegant? Most people who know me would disagree ...)

3). Matrimonial expat – a foreigner who marries another foreigner and then moves to the spouse’s country.

Yep, I married a local of the country I lived in at the time. Then I moved her elsewhere.

4). Job hunting expat – someone who pursues a better career abroad going where the grass is greener.

I found that the grass is green everywhere, but since I also needsomething to do, I did hunt for jobs before or after my moves.

5). Nomad expat – someone who moved to a new country but then, unable to adapt to life there, goes back home becoming an expired expat or to another country becoming a serial, nomad expat.

I believe with 12 stints in 6 countries I count as serial expat. But I've never been unable to adapt - on the contrary: I like the adaptation process so much I sometimes moved to a new place just for that!

6) Escapist expat - one who suddenly decides to uproot himself from known grounds for a great change in his life in unknown lands; an adventure expat.

I"ve always looked forward to great change (Live's an adventure, if you let it!), but I'm not an escapist

7). Retired expat - the name says it all.

I'm still too young and ambitious for that!

A more useful classification of Expats (developed by Hofstede et al.) is by the way they accommodate with their new environment after the initial culture shock wears off - they fall into one of the following categories (adapted from the Wikipedia entry for "Culture Shock", which I co-authored):

- Rejectors (approx. 60% of Expats) find it impossible to accept the foreign culture or to integrate. They isolate themselves from the host country's environment, which they come to perceive as hostile, withdraw into a "ghetto" and see return to their own culture as the only way out. They also have the greatest problems re-integrating back home after return, because they often cannot cope with the fact that "home" has moved on in their absence.

- Adopters (approx. 30% of Expats) integrate fully and take on all parts of the host culture while losing their original identity. This is called cultural assimilation. They normally remain in the host country forever. This is sometimes also called "Go Local".

- Cosmopolitans (approx. 10% of Expats) manage to adapt to the aspects of the host culture they see as positive, while keeping some of their own and creating a unique blend. They usually have no major problems returning home or relocating elsewhere.

Which one are you?
(Hint: Don't try to classify yourself before your culture shock phases are completely over - which usually takes 6 - 12 months after arrival!)

beppi wrote:

A more useful classification of Expats (developed by Hofstede et al.) is by the way they accommodate with their new environment after the initial culture shock wears off - they fall into one of the following categories (adapted from the Wikipedia entry for "Culture Shock", which I co-authored):

- Rejectors (approx. 60% of Expats) find it impossible to accept the foreign culture or to integrate. They isolate themselves from the host country's environment, which they come to perceive as hostile, withdraw into a "ghetto" and see return to their own culture as the only way out. They also have the greatest problems re-integrating back home after return, because they often cannot cope with the fact that "home" has moved on in their absence.

- Adopters (approx. 30% of Expats) integrate fully and take on all parts of the host culture while losing their original identity. This is called cultural assimilation. They normally remain in the host country forever. This is sometimes also called "Go Local".

- Cosmopolitans (approx. 10% of Expats) manage to adapt to the aspects of the host culture they see as positive, while keeping some of their own and creating a unique blend. They usually have no major problems returning home or relocating elsewhere.

Which one are you?
(Hint: Don't try to classify yourself before your culture shock phases are completely over - which usually takes 6 - 12 months after arrival!)

Hi Beppi,

1). Although it complements my description of expats, your classification is way toooo large.
You keep mentioning about local culture.  How about there is no culture? 

2). I personally identified myself at my post of 01 December 2013 12:49:00

Diverse opinions are interesting. Now we are all embracing cyber-culture: we simply cannot escape it and we must keep updating our PCs to keep in tune with the times or we get suffocated and crushed by news we don't understand. 

beppi wrote:

A more useful classification of Expats is by the way they accommodate with their new environment after the initial culture shock wears off - they fall into one of the following categories...

- Cosmopolitans (approx. 10% of Expats) manage to adapt to the aspects of the host culture they see as positive, while keeping some of their own and creating a unique blend. They usually have no major problems returning home or relocating elsewhere.

Beppi - as a "World Citizen", you must have no significant tribal loyalties. That's my situation. My wife and I have been living on our Caribbean island (Grand Cayman) for 36 years now - after 15 years wandering around and settling quite contentedly in other places. We're content here, too; but our loyalty to the Island and its people is not as strong as our loyalty to the human race as a whole. Several of my blog-posts [Barlow's Cayman] reflect this. For us, *human* rights are more important and more valid than *civil* or *tribal* or national rights. In this we disagree with many (not all, of course) of our fellow residents. I guess that puts us among your designated Cosmopolitan expats. Right?

(By the way: Excuse my ignorance, but how does one put words in bold print, or italics? I can't do that.)

Gordon Barlow wrote:

.....  (By the way: Excuse my ignorance, but how does one put words in bold print, or italics? I can't do that.)

Thank you for soliciting my advanced knowledge which comes from my artful usage of the computer over exactly 19 years.  I reply to your question free of charge.
Try to open a topic (or reply to one). Immediately you should see four images right below the word 'Message'. Next to them  is a '+' sign. Click on it.
There you are: lots of formatting options for you to choose from.  For me they still are not enough for what I want to convey sometimes.

If you do not see the 4 little images and the + sign, maybe your browser is not updated.
Anyway, try it and see what happens.

John C. wrote:

Gordon Barlow wrote:

.....  (By the way: Excuse my ignorance, but how does one put words in bold print, or italics? I can't do that.)

Thank you for soliciting my advanced knowledge which comes from my artful usage of the computer over exactly 19 years.  I reply to your question free of charge.

Thanks, John. Ignorance aggravated by stupidity, on my part, I'm afraid.

Gordon Barlow wrote:

John C. wrote:

Gordon Barlow wrote:

.....  (By the way: Excuse my ignorance, but how does one put words in bold print, or italics? I can't do that.)

Thank you for soliciting my advanced knowledge which comes from my artful usage of the computer over exactly 19 years.  I reply to your question free of charge.

Thanks, John. Ignorance aggravated by stupidity, on my part, I'm afraid.

You learnt something today so the day was not lost completely.
It's all in an expat day. 

Hi John C.

I am a Job hunting expat   

Miraj

I forgot to mention so far that an expat by definition is more adventurous than a regular employee.  His entrepreneurship is to venture abroad.

Another issue: when somebody from a 3rd country goes to a first country (including those which are not necessarily immigration countries) he flies with the wind.  He has all the reasons to integrate fast.
When somebody from a first country goes to a 3rd world country, he (even as a retiree or investor) flies against the wind.

mirajuddin wrote:

Hi John C.

I am a Job hunting expat   

Miraj

Hi Miraj,
You are at #4 in my list above.
How is it going?  Do you think of changing jobs or expat categories?   

John C. wrote:

mirajuddin wrote:

Hi John C.

I am a Job hunting expat   

Miraj

Hi Miraj,
You are at #4 in my list above.
How is it going?  Do you think of changing jobs or expat categories?   

at this moment i am trying to get a better job and fly higher