Expatriate or Immigrant?

...very interesting topic! I guess I'm both...I have been an immigrant in the US and I guess I am  bot an expat and an immigrant in France. But I am not sure I will stay forever here. I am not sure that I will ever return to live steadily in my native Italy either! I  would define myself as a "periodical/serial nomad," as I seem to be moving every 4 years!!!

MTK

I had friends in New Jersey. Their parents had immigrated from Italy and wanted the children 'to be Americans'. My friends spoke no Italian. That's immigration.
The example of the British passport holding person who has lived three generations in some country in Africa, yet retains his 'Britishness'... That's colonialism.
The fellow who comes to Spain to live cheaply, or retire.. without looking to conform to the Spanish example across the tracks... I'll go with 'ex-pat', I suppose...

...I should add (and continue to generalize) - when a Brit dies in Spain, he will want to be buried here. If he is obliged to return to England for final treatment and death, he will want his remains to be returned to Spain. This is an impressive form of commitment towards his adopted country, I think.
In the graveyards of Spain, there is no class-system or nationality... In the cemeteries, we are all finally the same.
That's a form of immigration...!

I guess I'm a global nomad. I just roll up my tent and move somewhere else when I feel the need.

This is very strange...I just wrote about this on my blog a few days ago (http://cishii.blogspot.com/2006/03/danc … tance.html). I characterized myself as an "expat" at that time, but think I'm leaning more towards "global nomad". Great label, BTW.

I am no expat or immigrant as I moved to different countries for my studies. I'm a foreign student.
But since I'm going to move to England (or somewhere else) after I leave France, I'll have to chose between being an ex-pat (moving if my work needs me to move) or an immigrant (living and working somewhere steady).
I want to be unsteady. Ex-pat, here I come.

Well, this is an old question we asked on this forum... It depends I guess from which point of view you ask it :

For my gouvernement : I'm one of the 2 millions French citizen leaving abroad
For fellow expats : well... I'm an expat
For the friends who come to visit me : I'm a local
For my Vietnamese fellows : well I'm a foreigner
For my French friends : I'm an emigrate
For my Vietnamese personal policeman : I'm an immigrate
For my young cousins : I'm a subject of awe
For my parents : I'm a subject of concern
For my girlfriend : I'm just here
For me : I'm just there

Who hold the mirror I'm looking into ?

We can call ourselves many names : traveller, global nomad gnome, quiter, economic refugee, free freak, etc. We have fractal identities and we want to live many lives, broaden our horizons, find answers, roots or whatever we feel right.

What is the parameter ?

I feel I'm an immigrant in Belgium (still my official residence) and an expat in Italy. I'd love to become a real global nomad.

I understand wikipedia's distinction between expats and immigrants, but I wouldn't say I'm not adopting Italian culture. Maybe because as a Mediterranean I felt home from the very first day. But also because I live my life day by day. I don't make a difference between a short and a long stay. One month in a country and it feels like I've always lived there.

Tom, I loved your answers!

Jo Ann,

Thanks a lot
Usually my ramblings attract nothing more than a polite silence...

@ bientôt

I'm definitly an immigrant. I'll stay where I'm now.

It came to me while reading a book - there are immigrants, ex-pats, pats, foreigners, colonialists, something ghastly called 'permanent travellers' or 'PT's', visitors, residents, tourists, brits and 'güiris'... and 'emigrées'. Yes, I like the sound of that one - that's what I am, an 'emigrée'!
Say, or do you have to be a Russian living in Paris to be an emigrée?

I voted immigrant... although I still live in the States... my plan is to leave & become a citizen of a different country

Looking at the results I guess nobody wants to be an expatriate! Kind of funny for a site called expat-blog.

Wikipedia's definition of an expat sounds pretty harsh to me and seems to be making judgements unsupported by evidence. If I was going to stick to the meaning of the word, which is always a good idea, I would call myself an expatriate. However, without reading the wiki entry I chose global nomad on the poll. Perhaps that's because I'm pretentious.

Hm... I've never actually thought about it. Then again, I don't really think of myself as being an immigrant since I live here and do everything I can to adopt the culture. I call the UK my home and I love it. At the end of the day, though, I guess I am European. To me, the most important line at the front of my passport is "European Union".