What IS An Expat, Anyway?
You know, it occurs to me that I’ve probably never answered this question. Not in a “gee, aren’t I mysterious” sort of fashion so much as an “I sure never do get around to doing a lot of things” fashion. Expat is short for expatriate. What does that mean? Dictionary.com says the following: ex·pa·tri·ate 
[v. eks-pey-tree-eyt or, especially Brit., –pa-tree-; adj., n. eks-pey-tree-it, -eyt or, especially Brit., –pa-tree-] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -at·ed, -at·ing, adjective, noun verb (used with object)
| 1. | to banish (a person) from his or her native country. |
| 2. | to withdraw (oneself) from residence in one’s native country. |
| 3. | to withdraw (oneself) from allegiance to one’s country. |
verb (used without object)
| 4. | to become an expatriate: He expatriated from his homeland. |
adjective
| 5. | expatriated; exiled. |
noun
| 6. | an expatriated person: Many American writers were living as expatriates in Paris. |
[Origin: 1760-70; < ML expatri tus (ptp. of expatri re to banish), equiv. to ex- ex-1 + patri(a) native land + – tus -ate1
] Ok, so it’s actually got an array of meanings. I was actually surprised to think of some of those, but I guess it makes sense, and in a general sense it’s merely “someone living outside their country”. I think I first heard the word back in high school somewhere, but never looked it up at the time. I gathered it to mean #6 there, specifically in reference to Hemingway. It seemed like disaffected people living abroad spending time down in the dumps in a bar or something. Fast-forward to December 2002: I end up going off to work on foreign bases in support of the US Military. This is where I run into a new meaning and sense of the word expat. I meet lots of people who’ve been doing that for years even. My plan was to do a year and get out of debt. I shortly expanded this idea to 3 years, being debt-free and buying a house. Well, it didn’t exactly work out that way. Somewhere after 2 years I took a break, got married, spent 4 months in Uzbekistan, Thailand, and a smidgen in Cambodia, and decided to get a job again. As of this writing (Dec 2006) I am at 4 years and a few weeks or so. Actually, I think I’m 4 years to the day that I got off a plane in Karshi, Uzbekistan and looked around at my new home. I think about going back to the states but I don’t really know when. We’ve got a pretty good deal here with time off and are reasonably central to Europe, Africa, and Asia. I think of going back home to a job with 2 weeks of vacation a year and it feels like dying. Some day, but not yet. Still places to go. And there you have it. 😉
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