My week got off to a bad start, what with Don not talking to me because of the stuff that I allegedly did at his bday party.
It’s not just this, I’ve since realised, that has lowered my mood of late. I read an article in the Guardian online last week, which really upset me. I am still feeling the pain of it, hence thusly I am sharing my disturbance with you, as I am sure you will understand.
The article says that only us whities are called “expats”, whereas anyone who isn’t white is an “immigrant”. Now I would say that an expat is someone living a fabulous temporary life in a country other than their own, but I have tons of non-blanc Expaterati friends, who are 100% expats, as far as I’m concerned.
So it super bugs me that the author has used racialistic parameters to define a word that totes isn’t about race. It just feels like stirring, and does this world of ours really need more aggro? No, babeses, it doesn’t. Let’s leave that crap to ISIS.
I felt so glum that I Skyped with cousin Clara the psychologist to get her take on the matter. Her conclusion was that the article “says more about the author’s experiences, and the bias of his own psyche than about a definitive, global perspective. Had the story focused on the concept of white privilege, or on an objective discussion of out-dated, but still present, colonial attitudes among some expats, perhaps the writer could have moved beyond unconstructive provocation to a more meaningful discourse. Unfortunately…” bla bla bla…
I stopped listening because Clara wasn’t making me feel any better. After clicking 
, I messaged her to say my wifi must have dropped out. Love that about online comms: no hashtag awkz, just one click and you’re free to go.
After that I went for a dosa in Little India with my Expaterati girlie, Priya. Then we headed to Chanel to get another pair of their amazebobs espadrilles, and spent the rest of the day chatting at the Tanglin Club pool. If my sista Priya isn’t an expat, I serioso don’t know who is, lah. Colour me baffed.
I couldn’t have said it better myself! Must find out who this other Clara is though…..
Lol! She’s my cousin back in the Yukes, babes. The Yukes Kays. She trained for like a gazillion years at the Tavistock & knows all manner of psych stuff. Irritating & know-it-all as hell at times – like all those therapy peeps – but a good egg really. She does seem to know her onions.
Mmmm onion omelette. Hungry.
EJ x
People from outside of Europe & Australia don’t use the word expat they just call people by their name and accept that we are all the same. Those who use the word do so because they feel that someone from a white country who moves to a non white country deserves a different title.
Thanks for your take on this, Jack babe.
EJ x