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[danny_boy]

This was raise in trollish fashion on another thread -- and it's come up within a few other threads over time.  I think the term "expat" deserves a thread of its own.

I'll start off by mentioning an interesting news item on CNN entitled "US ex-pats feel pain of shrinking dollar."  This was an interview with an American woman in Japan shopping for food.  She talked about how she just couldn't buy as much food nowadays.

This struck me as odd since I live and work in Japan and I've been absolutely tickled that the yen is "down" to 96 to the dollar (it's been about 120 on average over 10 years).  This means I now get many more dollars when I send money home.

So obviously the expat who the news crew were interviewing was being paid in US dollars.  Now that's a whole different class of "expats."   This includes students living on a budget from "back home," military (to some extent), and high-end BIG BUCKS expats to whom this couldn't possible matter.

So am I NOT an expat because I'm earning a "local" salary?

[gobelin]

In some circles, an expat deal means big money, some of it in local currency but most of it in the 'home' currency, a housing allowance or provision of housing, international health insurance, fees for international schooling if required, and maybe a maid and chauffeur. But this would only be for short-term assignments (up to a few years), after which, if the person wanted to stay, they would have to gradually switch to local terms and conditions. I guess that's the kind of person the TV crew was talking about.

But I think there are plenty of other expats too - students, retirees, teachers of english as a foreign language, etc., who don't come in with these corporate deals, but are still expats. In my book, you're still an expat and not an immigrant if you still think of home as, well, home.

Having said that, I can think of immigrants (who would call themselves immigrants not expats) who still think of back home as home.  So I guess I need a new definition too.

[science_expat]

I noticed the same thing about the CNN story.

I'm paid in pounds, not dollars which means my costs are quite low when I visit the States. Happy days!

I would describe myself as an expat not an immigrant because I initially moved to the UK for a short stay, not to settle permanently. I'm now here more than 10 years longer than expected, am a homeowner and citizen, and have no plans to leave. But neither have I definitively decided to spend all my days here.

[mischt]

Can I just point out that North America is FULL of people who have come and have no intention of staying forever. Those of us who were born there might only come to recognize this by way of our own experience as "immigrants" elsewhere. For instance, the majority of the Italian "immigrants" to Canada around 1900 eventually returned to Italy. I think it is a pretty standard part of "the immigrant experience" to believe it is a temporary thing and that home is always there, where I left, not here where I now am. But the time just has a way of passing.

[ajarn]

Well, my 2 satang on the subject

I just finished a book on expatriates (should be out soon), and I used the label “independent expatriate” to refer to those of us living abroad, are receiving local salaries, and who were not sent abroad by MNCs.
 
The concept used in business academic research of the expat is too limiting and outdated in my opinion and does not cover the reality of the majority of foreign workers around the world, in my humble opinion.

Immigrant?

For me living in Asia, there is no way I ever think of myself as an immigrant. It is possible to become American, Canadian or Australian. But one can not become Japanese, Chinese or Thai (unless one is from that particular ethnic background).

American may not be a race, but in most countries in the world race and nationality are intertwined.

So, maybe we can use terms like permanent expatriate (I stole this from an interviewee) or semi-permanent expat. These are nicer terms then some that have been used to describe me .

But my question is, next month I will be leaving Thailand for Vietnam, but can I still use the title Ajarn on this forum?

[baka_janai]

Wherever you go, there you are!  Your book sounds great!  Would you mind posting the reference and/or where I might get a copy?

[ajarn]

Sure,

http://www.chandospublishing.com/chandos_publishing_record_detail.php?ID=219

[daniel_von_flanagan]

I would guess that the term itself ("expat", not "expatriate") was originally slang for  Brits who moved to places like Northern Italy, Normandy, the Algarve, or India, where they could afford to live well on either an inheritance or pension, both in pounds. - DvF

[aardvark]

Speaking as someone who lives in China, teaching for a local university, and not paid in US dollars, I welcome a book that will show me that I'm supposed to find this a difficult life.  Because in the absence of such a book, I'd never know this is a difficult life :)

[daniel_von_flanagan]

http://www.chandospublishing.com/chandos_publishing_record_detail.php?ID=219

Some advice: you probably want to get the "Author" blurb on this page proofread by a native speaker of English. - DvF

[windchimes]

Or that his "PhD" obtained at Crapella University is useless in the U.S.

"Of course, we've long believed that Capella University sucks - but don't take our word for it, look at what others have to say!

    * The Chronicle of Higher Education reported ... likens online degrees to diploma mills or institutions that advertise on career Web sites promising to help you earn a degree in a year. . . She mentioned . . .

          "several universities that raise red flags for her when she sees them on résumés, including Capella University, an accredited for-profit online institution, (emphasis added)."

[windchimes]

Some advice: you probably want to get the "Author" blurb on this page proofread by a native speaker of English. - DvF

Taken from: http://www.capellauniversity.org/

In addition to hiring instructors who buy their doctorates from diploma mills, Capella University must also pride itself in hiring administrators who exhibit exemplary skills in basics such as writing ability. Take KL for example - he was recently promoted to the position of "Executive Director" for not one, but two different "schools." We wonder how many other universities have one person serve as the "dean" for more than one school? Impressive, to say the least! Equally impressive is Linberg's astute spelling ability - no wonder Capella promoted him!

As already noted, it's not asking a lot (sorry, Kurt, but "a lot" is not a compound word) for the Dean of a "School" of Technology to be able to spell a few very simple words - especially when those words should be part of the lexicon of anyone enrolled in such a "school!" Until very recently, Kurt Linberg had a web site located at:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/linberg/

He created a portion of that as part of his doctoral program at the esteemed Walden University. Sadly, after nearly seven (7) years on the web, he took it down (Spring 2005) and it is no longer available for viewing. Just the same, we've kept a copy because, we believe, it displays what a great roll role model he is for Capella students learners...   

http://www.capellauniversity.org/linberg_spelling_champ.html

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Or that his "PhD" obtained at Crapella University is useless in the U.S.

I don't think that this invalidates his book, which should stand or fall on its own merits.  There are many excellent books on topics such as living abroad which are written by people with no advanced degree at all.  I have my own concerns about Capella University, but I don't think it is an issue for this book (which I have not seen, so cannot judge here).

Regardless of who or what is responsible for the bad grammar in the "author" blurb, I was merely recommending that it be corrected. - DvF

[dundee]

Getting back to the OP's question, since his degree and author blurb have been dissed enough ...

I am an expat but don't like to use the term, because it carries a connotation in my home country that I don't wish to be associated with. Although I have been in the U.S. for over a decade, and will probably be here for several more decades, I do not think of it as home or as becoming my home, and thus I don't call myself an immigrant either. I just think of myself as a citizen of X who lives overseas.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Getting back to the OP's question, since his degree and author blurb have been dissed enough ...

Nobody dissed OP's degree or blurb. - DvF