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An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

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Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#61

Post by tsm »

keerthiko wrote: post #46

Am I the only one bothered by an American writer using the term "expat" to describe himself and other foreigners in a country, when the standard term used for the counterpart people in America is "immigrant" or "migrant worker"? American dialogue has been building a language of discrimination that I find extremely insulting as a non-US national in America, which spawns the whole anti-"immigrant" sentiment dominant in…

As a former expat, my understanding of the distinction is that expats realize they're temporarily in the foreign country, and are not consciously working to "go native". Immigrants believe that they've moved for good, and are more likely than not to, for example, hope that their children are a better cultural fit with the host country than the parents were.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#63

Post by randyrand »

madaxe_again wrote: post #54
jacobolus wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Expatriate is a synonym for emigrant . The word expatriate emphasizes the current status living outside the native country, while the word emigrant emphasizes the traveling process.

It's a synonym for immigrant , exclusively for white people. Emigrant is what an immigrant is relative to their home country. The verb is "emigration", which mirrors "immigration". Don't take my word for it, refer to a dictionary, or this article. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals...

*rich people

being white has nothing to do with it. Its wealth.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#64

Post by RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u »

keerthiko wrote: post #46

Am I the only one bothered by an American writer using the term "expat" to describe himself and other foreigners in a country, when the standard term used for the counterpart people in America is "immigrant" or "migrant worker"? American dialogue has been building a language of discrimination that I find extremely insulting as a non-US national in America, which spawns the whole anti-"immigrant" sentiment dominant in…

Interesting, I didn't know there's a negative connotation to the term. I thought generally the difference between an expat and an immigrant is that the former intends to return at some point, while the latter intends to settle permanently.

An expat could be a migrant worker, but not necessarily. For instance, one could go to a foreign country for university, and then decides to stay after graduation. He'd probably have to find a job, yes, but I wouldn't call him a migrant worker because he didn't emigrate for employment reasons.

Obviously, words are imprecise and there are overlaps, though this is the first time I've heard that expat could have a negative association.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#66

Post by RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u »

contingencies wrote: post #58

Local police often only act on request from Beijing, in the spirit of: "we have a new national crackdown on ; go arrest some people". We have a saying here 山高皇帝远 ("the mountains are high and the emperor is far").

OT: I'd learned the idiom as 天高皇帝遠; didn't know there are variations.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#67

Post by dhimes »

mc32 wrote: post #59
keerthiko wrote: post #46

Am I the only one bothered by an American writer using the term "expat" to describe himself and other foreigners in a country, when the standard term used for the counterpart people in America is "immigrant" or "migrant worker"? American dialogue has been building a language of discrimination that I find extremely insulting as a non-US national in America, which spawns the whole anti-"immigrant" sentiment dominant in…

Expat is typically someone who is sent to work for a company's foreign offices/overseas offices and who will return to their home country after their "tour" is over. I.e. their residency depends on their company's sponsorship --the company you work for is doing all the paperwork and paying all incidental costs for you. An immigrant is someone who moves overseas or to a foreign country on their own accord without the…

That's an interesting use (I've had friends use it too) but not necessarily by definition. Websters has two versions. The first has two definitions: (1)(Vb) banish; exile (2) (vb) to withdraw oneself from residence in or allegiance to one's native country.

They indicate that it can be a noun, but without further definition.

Note the implication that it's not voluntary, or at least under duress (a la Snowden), and not necessarily with the intent of returning.

Second version is an adjective, meaning "living in a foreign land."

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#68

Post by dalke »

mc32 wrote: post #59
keerthiko wrote: post #46

Am I the only one bothered by an American writer using the term "expat" to describe himself and other foreigners in a country, when the standard term used for the counterpart people in America is "immigrant" or "migrant worker"? American dialogue has been building a language of discrimination that I find extremely insulting as a non-US national in America, which spawns the whole anti-"immigrant" sentiment dominant in…

Expat is typically someone who is sent to work for a company's foreign offices/overseas offices and who will return to their home country after their "tour" is over. I.e. their residency depends on their company's sponsorship --the company you work for is doing all the paperwork and paying all incidental costs for you. An immigrant is someone who moves overseas or to a foreign country on their own accord without the…

Your definition is not correct, or at least it's incomplete.

There are many retirees who call themselves an "expat", such as those at http://money.cnn.com/gallery/retirement/2014/10/14/expat-ret... .

Arthur C. Clarke was a British expat in Sri Lanka. He was not sent there by a company.

Here's the owner of a company which hires Mexican agricultural workers for 10 months of the year - http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-guest-worker-20130331-dt... :

> He spends $1,000 per worker for visas, consulate fees and transportation to North Carolina. He's required to pay for their housing, and he estimates he has spent more than $80,000 building a house on his property, plus $36,000 to buy a mobile home and $5,000 a year to rent an apartment for the 48 workers he employs during the growing season. The government makes him pay them $9.68 an hour, which is about one-third higher than the minimum wage in the state, and he spends thousands of dollars on workers' compensation insurance.

Oddly, people rarely call those Mexican's "ex-pats." The only difference from your definition is that they work outside, and not in an office, no?

If so, isn't that the sort of socioeconomic class discrimination that keerthiko pointed out?

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#69

Post by dalke »

RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u wrote: post #64
keerthiko wrote: post #46

Am I the only one bothered by an American writer using the term "expat" to describe himself and other foreigners in a country, when the standard term used for the counterpart people in America is "immigrant" or "migrant worker"? American dialogue has been building a language of discrimination that I find extremely insulting as a non-US national in America, which spawns the whole anti-"immigrant" sentiment dominant in…

Interesting, I didn't know there's a negative connotation to the term. I thought generally the difference between an expat and an immigrant is that the former intends to return at some point, while the latter intends to settle permanently. An expat could be a migrant worker, but not necessarily. For instance, one could go to a foreign country for university, and then decides to stay after graduation. He'd probably ha…

Do you call a Mexican who comes into the US for 10 months under an agricultural work visa an expat?

If so, you are one of the very few. People don't usually talk about, say, "Mexican ex-pats in the Central Valley", even to describe those who are planning to return to their family back home, and sending money home to support that family.

Re: An Expat Has Time to Reflect, Now That the Party’s Over

#70

Post by mc32 »

dalke wrote: post #68
mc32 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Expat is typically someone who is sent to work for a company's foreign offices/overseas offices and who will return to their home country after their "tour" is over. I.e. their residency depends on their company's sponsorship --the company you work for is doing all the paperwork and paying all incidental costs for you. An immigrant is someone who moves overseas or to a foreign country on their own accord without the…

Your definition is not correct, or at least it's incomplete. There are many retirees who call themselves an "expat", such as those at http://money.cnn.com/gallery/retirement/2014/10/14/expat-ret... . Arthur C. Clarke was a British expat in Sri Lanka. He was not sent there by a company. Here's the owner of a company which hires Mexican agricultural workers for 10 months of the year - http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-n…

There are definitely some social strata connotations to it. Migrant workers, who often have visas pre-arranged for them and are given housing, are typically called migrant workers because they do "rounds". Conversely the Mexican workers at the Mexican consulate would be Mexican ex-pats and so would Cemex workers sent by the company to their US offices.

As I mentioned above, ex-pats and immigrants from country A living and working in country B typically will not be found in the same social circles --be they American or British or Brazilian or Chinese.

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