Comments on: You know you’re an expat…

By: Vicky

Vicky — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:00:08 +0000

you become racist against people that are really your own skin colour.

By: Stephen Downes

Stephen Downes — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:28:31 +0000

You catch yourself saying “gracias” insteda of “thank you”.

You search for news of sports (like cricket and football (Australian rules, soccer)) not found in local newspapers.

By: Dave Booth

Dave Booth — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:23:47 +0000

…98. The thought of drinking from the mains water supply makes you feel sick.

99. You are astonished to find apples are cheaper than mangos.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:28:17 +0000

Thanks for that laugh. My wife and I have 4 more after almost 10 years overseas…

You have 4 different currencies in your wallet.
You’re annoyed in US airports at having to pay for a cart for your bags.
You find US traffic to be structured/orderly in an overly anal way.
You have to consciously remind yourself not to bribe police officers.

By: Karyn Romeis

Karyn Romeis — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:52:03 +0000

Oh, and another one:

The fresh produce you think of as being everyday fare is on a stand labelled ‘exotic fruit & veg’.

By: Karyn Romeis

Karyn Romeis — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:17:33 +0000

Having lived in the UK as a South African ex-pat for 9 years, I would add:

You feel like a foreigner every day… then you go ‘home’ on a holiday and still feel like a foreigner
You’re amazed at the narrow world view of your friends and family ‘back home’
Your family starts to look to you to bail them out of their financial difficulties because you earn £s and are therefore rich
You will drive to a shop that’s more than half an hour away, even though you don’t need anything, just to be surrounded by people who sound like you
You find yourself saying “When we” far too often

By: lilalia

lilalia — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:01:04 +0000

When home, you notice that everyone talks like the characters in a popular television series.

You prefer to go to a doctor and dentist in your chosen country and not back home.

When the Olympic Games start, you know more about the athletes from the country you live in than those where you are a citizen.

When the national anthems are played at international sport events, tears come to your eyes numerous times.

By: Dorothy Burt

Dorothy Burt — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:26:27 +0000

Love it – went out for dinner wth a bunch of new friends from around the comonwealth at NECC and we discussed much of what is on your list from a visitors’ perspective, not expats…
However, we ( hub and I) were expats in the 80’s teaching in Papua New Guinea International Schools and with no internet to keep us informed you know you are an expat when:
You rely on your family to send you tapes of music so you don’t embarrass them when you come home
You watch the Olympics on TV and moan that this country is soooo biased – they only show their athletes winning medals
When you go home on leave in the middle of Summer no-one can understand why you are wearing warm clothes
And what about this one Jeff – you wonder why the house staff haven’t folded the laundry yet

By: bruce pohlmann

bruce pohlmann — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:50:53 +0000

You buy enough socks to last for two years.

You fly business class because you know they’ll look the other way when you’re 25kg over the weight limit.

You can name all the smoking bars in at least five airports in five different countries.

You know the exchange rates for at least five different currencies.

You’re amazed at all the swearing on television.

You try to remember that a red light means stop not go faster.

You bring one suitcase just for books.

Your friends ask you why you can sit on the front steps for hours watching people walk down the street.

You say hello to strangers on the street and wonder why they don’t say hello back.

You keep trying to drive on the left side.

You count the days until you get to go “home.”

By: The Science Goddess

The Science Goddess — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:37:39 +0000

Wish I’d known you were in Poulsbo…I live here!