Just a quick observation today: When any random group of expats gathers overseas for a social event – be it a holiday, a sports event, or even just a quick drink at the local watering hole – why does there always seem to be at least one TOTAL FUCKING PSYCHO among their numbers? You know who I mean, the asshole who likes to get in the middle of conversations he couldn’t hope to begin understanding, and wants nothing more than to prove his conviction in his simpleton viewpoints by punching someone in the face… And why does the psycho always seem to be from the same country as you?
Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
The idea of ‘ex-patting’ off to some greener pasture is appealing, but with a few exceptions, I’ve never cared for the people that I’ve met that would be my fellow ex-pats. Ex-pats seems to follow two strains, and maybe you can correct me: A) Renaissance men for whom the wonders of a single country could never be enough to sedate their intellectual curiosity; and B) Idiots who go to another country under the mistaken impression that other countries are more accepting of idiots than their homeland.
The two strains you mention are certainly over-represented. There’s a lot of gray area, though, or at least I want to think so. It’s just that I have a hard time with the whole expat scene in pretty much every country I visit. That might be your type C: The Loners, by Choice.