I Am Not An Expat

Expat is a loaded term . It carries connotations of privilege, class, and education. It makes assumptions about the person being called an expat, but judgements about other people in similar situations that are called by other terms. Terms like “migrant”, “foreign worker”, or “immigrant”. Those are other terms that people use to contrast against the expat - not based on actual situation, but based on those pseudo-categories mentioned previously. It is now, in the 21st century, a decidedly classist term.

Yes, yes. I know that originally it was a synonym for “exile”, particularly in the case of folks who self-exiled over politics, but we all know what it means now.

Expat means an highly educated, rich, probably European or American, professional working temporarily abroad, as opposed to an “economic migrant” which means a less-highly educated, poorer, probably brown, non-professional working temporarily abroad.

In both instances we are describing the same type of people, in the same type of situation. They are both people with the wherewithal to move abroad for a new work experience, live in and explore a different culture, save up money or send it home, and then travel back to their preferred home base once their economic or social goals have been achieved. The only difference in how we apply the two terms comes down entirely to race and class markers.

However, neither definition applies to me. I am not either of those things. I am a (not so) secret third thing. I am an immigrant. I am here to stay (probably). I brought my family with me. I moved everything I could with me, and sold up everything else. I bought property here, started a whole new, forward-looking life.

Because you see, the very idea of the expat is not really in its implicit classism and low-key racism. Its about looking back. Back to where you came from, who you came from, and where, one day, you will go back to. Expats are backwards looking, and immigrants are forward looking. As such, immigrants are much more likely to become part of a local community than an expat.