As evidenced above, I’m obviously the perfect expat as I fit myself seamlessly into any new environment.
As someone who straddles the line of being a loner but conditioned to be relatively social, I feel like I’ve been quite lucky in terms of my expat experience. I’ve heard of and seen plenty of perfectly nice people wash out from expat life because they can’t get over the isolation and otherishness (definitely a word) inherent in the experience. I guess what I’m saying is that I’m basically the Perfect Expat™. Jokes! But I do think I’m naturally disposed towards weathering the ups and downs of expat life quite well even if there are several areas where I feel I’m not quite meeting Perfect Expat™ levels.
Here are my guidelines for what makes up the Perfect Expat™:
1. Be able to spend a lot of time alone. It’s not necessarily that you will spend a lot of time alone or that non-loners can’t succeed in expat life, but – particularly at the beginning of your expat experience – things can be quite lonely. You might have an apartment to yourself and not know anyone in the city. Maybe you have a ton of colleagues who invite you out but can’t really speak your language. Maybe you’re just too exhausted from every day life to go out and socialize. It’s bound to happen and the ability to be alone and not mind it can serve you really well.
2. Be willing to talk to anyone. This may seem like a bit of a contradiction to point one, but it’s really not. No matter how aloof you are, to be a Perfect Expat™ you need to have the ability to approach anyone with your mediocre language skills and get the information you need. This is where I really fail at expat life. Although I’ve gotten much better as I’ve gotten over, I’m a pretty shy person who doesn’t like to approach people for any reason – functioning in a foreign language only exacerbates that fear. Not good for an expat. Oh, and speaking of language abilities…
3. Know the language well enough to function in basic situations. I can’t even say how infuriating it is when expats here in Moscow complain about how hard life is. Maybe if you spoke a few words of Russian and got out of the British pubs here, you might magically turn into a functioning human being. Obviously the Perfect Expat™ would speak the local language fluently before relocating, but that’s not always possible. I’ll settle for being able to undertake basic functions as enough.
4. Have natural emotional stability. Some people cry at the drop of a hat. I crush their hat further into the dirt. The area of emotional stability is one where I feel I come closest to being a Perfect Expat™ (and, perhaps, a psychopath). I’m a pretty even-keeled person and it takes a lot to get me upset. I think this is the best possible trait for an expat as the highs and lows of living abroad – particularly in a vastly different culture – can be confidence shaking at times. If you’re emotionally unstable, expat life could be enough to push you over the edge.
5. Have a high threshold for embarrassment. Perhaps the most important part of the Perfect Expat™ persona. This is something I do not have but, if I weren’t so pale and my blush wasn’t so easily visible, I would be able to fake it fairly well. Living abroad will inevitably cause you to do or say something stupid in the eyes of the locals. The Perfect Expat™ should be able to shake it off and continue on without falling into a shame spiral.
Others with living abroad experience: how would you change this list? What would you add/take away? Oh, and I’m linking up with Chasing the Donkey for Sunday Traveler!
Don’t forget to check out the Like a Local article and get a sneak peek of why we chose Yerevan!
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