I’ve read an interesting blog post about the benefits of Expat life and I realized once more that I am not a huge fan of the term expat. It sounds a bit pretentious sometimes. For me expats often are these mid-twenties who go to Hongkong, Shanghai or Dubai, work a cool job, earn shitloads of money and only hang out with other expats, in expat bars and do expat stuff. I do definitely not consider myself part of this group. Well, I’m too old for that anyway!? I’ve read a lot about expats, expat life and so on and there doesn’t really seem to be an alternative expression. So who am I? An immigrant, a Global Citizen, a confused German? Do we need these labels anyway? I don’t even think I need to belong to one of these categories, but nevertheless it’s interesting to compare them and get more clarity. So, let’s look at the actual meaning of these words:
expat
a) expatriating
verb, to leave one’s native country to live elsewhere or to withdraw (oneself) from residence in or allegiance to one’s native country
b) expatriate
noun, a person who lives outside their native country.
Wikipedia says “An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing, as an immigrant, in a country other than that of their citizenship. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (“out of”) and patria (“country, fatherland”).” But Expatriation may also mean exile or renunciation of allegiance. The U.S. Expatriation Act of 1868 said in its preamble, ‘the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
immigrant
global citizen
The Urban Dictionary says:
A person that intentionally chooses to consider all countries as potential places to live, work, and play.
A person that can rationalize their life experience without undue consideration of national boundaries or cultural differences.
Wikipedia says: In broad usage, the term global citizenship or world citizenship typically defines a person who places their identity with a “global community” above their identity as a citizen of a particular nation or place.The idea is that one’s identity transcends geography or political borders and that the planetary human community is interdependent and whole; humankind is essentially one.
World Citizen badge © by By DasRakel
The organization “Global Citizen” is a social platform for a global generation that wants to save the world biggest challenges. It it worth visiting their website and check out how to get involved.
So what am I? I honestly can’t say. I came here as an expat. I came to live and work outside my home country for a while. By now, I’m probably an immigrant. Owning a green card, but not a permanent citizen yet. Living abroad for over eight years now, I feel like a global citizen as well and I like the idea of being exactly that. But I still want to keep deep bonds with my home country and I also want my kids a have a strong association with their native country. At the same time I want them to develop a unique understanding and appreciation for other cultures, a global understanding. Comprehensively I don’t know how to call myself, but does it matter? Maybe these days it is a better idea to not use labels at all.
How do you feel? How do you call yourself living abroad?
picture on top © Unesco
This post is a part of a series called NaBloPoMo 2016 hosted by BlogHer. NaBloPoMo is short for National Blog Posting Month and it challenges writers and creatives to post on their blogs once a day (at least) for the month of November. You can find all my posts on my blogher page, too. Stay tuned!
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