The Good News and The Bad News
First, the Good News. Loyal readers will be pleased to know that substantial progress has been made in the preparation of the new series, The Expat Chronicles. Unless there is a major upset, you can look forward to seeing the first books in the series in your digital bookstores in the next few months. March 31 is the projected launch date but it may come earlier… depending on other developments.
The Bad News: However, recent “other developments” on the collaboration with Torgeir Higraff to release our book about his drift voyage on the South Pacific have required me to suspend work on the expat series while we complete all the steps necessary to release Kon-Tiki 2; We’re Sinking But Not Tonight. Stay tuned for excerpts from KT2 and release date updates in the coming weeks.
But, for this week, here is an excerpt from the first book of the stalled expat series:
Author’s Note
Let’s get one little detail settled at the very outset. An expat and an immigrant are not the same thing. True, there is some overlap but I am confining my books to expats. Specifically, an expat has not changed his citizenship or loyalty… only his address. I am an expat. I can be grateful to a new host country and respectful of their achievements but my allegiance to my birth country has never wavered. The immigrant is the mirror image in those respects.
Before you begin reading, please allow me to clarify something else. Those who have read my previous book, China Bound, will notice that some of the content in this book seems familiar. That's because several new books, beginning with The Expat Has Landed, are derived from that original book which was published some time ago. With the passing years, I've gained more experience as an author and an expat. Thus, although the original stories and observations of my first days as an expat remain largely unchanged, I decided to revisit China Bound and expand upon its content to create a series of books with new material in the form of stories, observations, and reflections. Thus, The Expat Chronicles was born.
The Expat Has Landed should be the first book you read in The Expat Chronicles series. Obviously, any story will make more sense if you read it chronologically. This series will offer a deep dive into the experiences and mindset of expats, with stories, insights, and advice that I hope will be interesting to both seasoned expats and those who are considering joining the ranks.
There will be one significant shift in the perspective of the new books. China Bound was focused on my experiences as a fresh new expat in China, hence the title. But the new materials will be generalized to apply to all expats in all countries. Moving to a new country is moving to a new country. Which specific country doesn’t matter so much. Overlooking regional and cultural differences, the sequence - settling, learning, and paradigm shifting - will be the same everywhere for every expat. Of course, your own personality, local conditions, and expectations when you step off the plane to begin your new life will make each expat’s story unique. So I will simply remind you that “Your mileage may vary”.
Part of that deeper dive will include reflections like this: Think of some of the stunts you and your high school buddies thought were hilarious. However, when you look back from years later, some of those stories require annotation or even amending. You might find yourself saying, “Maybe what we did to old Mr. Brent was kinda cruel. We didn’t mean it that way; we were just a bunch of dumb kids”. (If you find yourself cringing, you are not the only one.)
Why do I include this many-years-later perspective? I assure you that all the original stories and observations in these new books are true and told as accurately as possible, given that we filter what we see through the lens of expectations from our previous culture. However, applying the clear vision of hindsight and a little knowledge acquired along the way, some things appear slightly different to me today. Accordingly, I have inserted numerous comments to add depth to the original stories, offering updates and more awareness of what I was seeing. These inserts, while not contradicting the stories, are how I understand things today. To separate the old stories from my current observations and reflections, I used an easily recognizable device for my updates.
**********************’
The View From 50,000 Feet:
Words of wit and wisdom.
********************’
This book you are currently reading is the first in a series, The Expat Chronicles, which will contain detailed stories of my transformation from a small-town boy in rural south-central Missouri to committed expat with ties to two countries and two cultures. It has been an interesting journey. Very.
If you are reading a book about expats, I assume that you have an interest in diving into a new life for yourself. You are curious, anyway. In addition to my stories, the series will also contain reflections, adaptation strategies, and thoughts on how to effectively and happily create your own blend of personal elements chosen from several cultures. I call my current shelter from the outside world my 18th Floor Homestead. (There will be a section of that name in a future book in the series.) All the books will contain specific steps and recommendations for creating your own enclave of safety and fulfillment.
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not retreating from the world. I am not preparing for some cataclysm - nuclear, social, economic, or religious. Nor am I advocating we all become hermits, living like our primitive forefathers in nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers, foraging through the wilderness - including the modern urban equivalents of dumpster diving behind fast food restaurants or planting a few rows of beans on your balcony or in your back yard, even though we have a fine example in Henry David Thoreau’s classic book Walden.
I am not advocating withdrawal from the world, only taking steps to control the tiny corner of it that you call home and where you can choose what enters it. I am not even promoting a life of abstinence, foregoing all the pleasures and diversity available to us today. What I am offering is detailed instructions and reflections on how to establish boundaries to keep the outside world from becoming too intrusive.
One of the greatest benefits - and there are many - of becoming an expat is the ability to finally see all the limits and lenses we unconsciously impose upon ourselves. We learn rules and expectations as small children; the process is called socialization. As adults, we continue to conform to the rules of a tribe which consists of the relatively small number of people with whom we continuously interact.
The learning process is akin to osmosis. You don’t take classes on how to fit in; you mold your behaviors to conform to the behaviors of the people around you, your tribe. We are social animals; we want to be members of a group, some group. To be accepted, you just stay inside your particular tribe’s comfort zone of what is normal. This self-regulating behavior is beautifully stated in Jim Rohn’s famous observation: “You become the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. Indeed, we unconsciously think that the whole world should follow our tribal customs. Sometimes, we get upset and confused when the rest of the world doesn’t act as we expect.
Put succinctly, as children and as adults, we learned a set of rules and followed them - and were aware of those rules when we broke them. As an expat, it becomes painfully, wonderfully, joyously - if we are lucky - clear that it is within our power to consciously create a new set of rules and behaviors. But, until we develop the bicultural vision that is the expat’s greatest legacy, we can never see our original rules and their limitations clearly, i.e., fish don’t know that they are surrounded by water.
As a child, you learned a set of rules. They applied to the tribe you were born into. But a person born in a different society or era would have learned a different set of rules. Only when you realize that your rules were very arbitrary, often outdated, and specific to a small group, your tribe, can you realize that it is possible to free yourself from those old rules and adopt a set of new rules that you consciously create as a thinking adult.
Thank you for accompanying me on this journey. With these updated observations added to my original stories, I hope you find my books even more informative, entertaining, and applicable to your life.
*************************’
So, if you have read this far, you can support my efforts to write and publish by visiting my Buy Me A Coffee page and making a small contribution to enable my caffeine addiction to continue unabated.