Well two days before we fly out to Thailand and start another chapter in our lives living overseas. My wife and I were talking the other day and can’t believe that we are starting our 7th year at overseas educators.

As we talked we were thinking about how “weird” the States feels to us now. We only know Seattle in the month of July and over the past 6 years we have spent a total of about 3 months in the States. Each year we come back it feels more and more like a foreign country to us. Both of our home towns have changed so much and time keeps ticking. We got lost in Spokane once and twice here in Poulsbo.

So as we were driving the other day we came up with a list of “You know you’re an expat when…”

I encourage others who have lived or are living overseas to add to the list.

You know you are an expat when…..

you look forward to Wal-Mart just to browse the aisles and look at all the choices of shampoo!

it takes you 25 minutes to pick out a juice to drink because you just love reading the labels.

you bust up at a TV commercial that’s been on for a year but is new to you.

your credit card statement for the month of July is more than you make in 3 months.

you care more about politician’s stand on global issues than on taxes and health care.

you can name all three airlines above without hesitation.

friends get annoyed driving around with you because all you say is “When did that happen?”

you go to the same hang out you went to before you moved overseas only to find out it’s no longer the ‘cool hang out’.

you shop last year’s styles because they’re new to you and lets face it, your friends don’t care.

your shipment includes plastic wine glasses to be used by the pool.

you buy a year’s supply of deodorant, toothpaste, make-up, shampoo, etc and still get the suitcase under 50lbs.

you are a sucker for ads on TV.

you can pack a suitcase to 49.9lbs without a scale.

you are standing in line talking to yourself only to realize the people around you can understand you.

you find yourself listening in to others conversations just because you can.

you get tired of people asking you “so what’s it like…is it scary?”

you freeze when people ask you “paper or plastic”.

a sales rep asks for your phone number and you start with the country code.

in June you pre-plan all your meals for July just so you don’t miss your favorite reasurants.

you can’t relate to gas prices in the States cause the rest of the world has been paying them for years.

people tell you you talk with an accent.

you have friends in more than 10 countries.

when people ask you what you’ll miss the most about a country and you reply “foot massages”.

facebook.com is truly a ‘friend network’.

you choose your bank based on their online banking options.

you buy a year’s worth of new clothes in two weeks.

Ok…there’s our list…..what would you add?

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