There's this issue among expats. We come from another place. We have a different culture. Most of us voluntarily moved someplace far from home. Sometimes with family. Sometimes on our own. Always with some blind naivety, always with some hope, and always with some trepidation. We never expect our new home to be the same, but we always hope for some understanding that we are trying our best. There are parts of ourselves that can never be changed and there are parts that are changed at their very core.
Next time you meet an expat, or an immigrant, or even a traveller for one second can you put yourselves in their shoes? They may be quieter or louder. They may be in your personal space or seem stand offish. They may be more blunt or more polite. How would you be 10,000 miles from home? No friends to have a chat with? No nephews to snuggle? No one who got your 1990s trivia joke Trebek? Different is not bad and same is not good. In the same way we can learn so much from our new home is there any chance you may recognize we offer something new in return?
So so true! And not just for ex-pats, but for anyone who is outside their "natural habitat", whether that habitat is geographic, political, religious, cultural, etc.
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