How do you navigate your expat identity in Hong Kong?

I read Stephanie's piece and found it quite interesting.

I moved to Paris in 1996 for the first time ever after having stayed 7 years in Hong Kong. With a french wife the project was easily fulfilled and we found an apartment in the 16th arondissement and a warehouse at La Plain St. Denis and started a new business that involved importing furniture, clothing, handicrafts etc from China, the Philippines and Indonesia and wholesaling them throughout Europe as well as continuing to work with our clients in the Sentier.

After a year, we moved down south because we didn't like the people in Paris and we continued the business from there where the people are a lot friendlier.

In the Basque country the people accept me immediately and I found loads of local and foreign friends whereas in Paris you really have to watch out for yourself as a foreigner.

I have lived and worked in many countries and in general I never felt like an outsider simply because I just didn't care and I just wanted to have fun. And since most of my adult life has been living and working in Asia that is very easy.

Paris is special because the people there are considered as arrogant or snobbish. Saying that, I do have many friends there and I have three grown up children either working or studying in Paris. They went to a school in Rue de Passy where the parents are so snobbish. Unfortunately, many Parisians retire in Biarritz so you can sometimes find the same kind of attitude there too.

When I lived in Hong Kong I had already studied Mandarin and could speak a few sentences in Cantonese. I never felt myself to be an outsider even though most of my friends were either French or British. Same as when i lived in Singapore and Malaysia, you just live your life and have fun.

In places like Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore most people can speak English so that makes things very easy. When I lived in Taiwan I was a student learning Mandarin, but living with a Taiwanese family and my friends were mostly foreigners aswell as Taiwanese people. It was very easy, but of course better if you speak the language.

Of course, being a Brit, many of us just love to live overseas, even if it is just across the Channel. It's a completely different life, different culture, different language and everyday can feel like a holiday. That's how I feel when I live in a foreign country.

My dad lived and worked in Singapore when he was younger, my sister has lived all over the world and currently lives in Singapore. And I too have lived in many places with no plans to return to the UK any time soon. In fact, we hope to send our kids to university in Japan when they grow up where we also hope to be able to live. That's why I am learning Japanese. Languages make things easier when you live overseas. Japanese will be my fifth.