Defining moment...

Having just been reading reports of Australians repatriating themselves in the face of worsening economic prospects in the UK, and recalling that only a few weeks ago we were discussing Eastern Europeans heading home for now brighter prospects, we are forced back to the definition of the very subject of this blog, the expat.

Should we be differentiating more between the expat who has shifted country purely by choice and the economic migrant who has by definition mainly financial motives? If so, how do we in fact differentiate - and can one person in fact fall into both categories? Well, perhaps those mainly choosing a change of lifestyle will then build in financial considerations in making their final choice of country, and that is quite natural.

However, for those driven to a move by financial necessity, should we expect them to make any further commitment to their host country? They have made their decision on a financial basis and presumably have been welcomed for the skills they bring to the host country without further commitment being required, other than perhaps to learning the language - so can we blame such people for returning home when the financial advantage disappears suddenly?

Do the expats who relocate by choice, for love of culture, environment, etc., make a different sort of commitment to his host country? Are they more likely to remain and weather the storm when times get tough for a while? Probably, I would think, but perhaps only because they can afford the luxury!

In any event, perhaps a level of commitment aside from financial interest becomes part of our definition of an expat...

A question of quality...

It seems to be survey season just now, at least in the world we expats inhabit.

Following our recent reporting of an Alliance & Leicester poll of expats (see the post below), now we see a large survey carried out for HSBC International, based on a huge sample of 2,155 expats in 48 countries, snappily entitled "Offshore Offspring"!

The survey focused on quality of life and cost of living issues relating to family life overseas and included factors such as the cost of raising a family, time spent outdoors, languages learned, study time, and whether parents believed that their children would remain in the country as adults. The summary report covers the 14 countries that yielded enough results to be significant in the survey.

Well, if another survey is of interest, you can see the detailed results by following the link below - but for this British expat in France there were some points of particular interest... while Spain is rated as the cheapest country to raise a family, the UK is the most expensive, at fourteenth position.... for the overall results, rating all factors in the survey, I was pleased to see that France is second only to Spain!

If you are contemplating making a lifestyle leap, you can gorge on statistics, graphs and detailed comments here...

Offshore Offspring

Always a lovely day...

The results of a recent poll of expats makes fascinating reading. The offshore bank Alliance & Leicester International surveyed UK expats specifically, asking them such questions as the reason for moving abroad, why they rate their new country over the UK, what downsides they find, etc.

In terms of why British expats preferred their new country, it is interesting to see the list of top ten factors and that quality of life and a higher standard of living rated second and third positions respectively. So, what is the No. 1 reason for Brits to live elsewhere? Well, the weather of course!

Given the reputation of Brits for always talking about the weather, and the UK having a climate that is the envy of few, I guess it is natural that this would be a major consideration, but perhaps surprising that it is the primary factor. Perhaps we need to be chatting about the weather more on this expat blog!

A safer environment, lower crime rate, slower pace of life, and better food were also rated in the top ten. In fact the report comes up with findings and destination breakdown too extensive to cover fully here, but there were some other interesting snippets...

For example, given that a massive 75% of Brits in France understandably rated the cuisine as a key reason, what about the poor expat souls (9%) who actually admit to missing British food!

Also, going back to the climate issue, in which countries are the 4% of British expats who miss the UK's weather?

Alliance & Leicester International

Who wants to be a millionaire...

During the summer we heard the story of a Brit in Australia who sold his entire expat lifestyle, including home, car, an introduction to his friends, and a chance to take over his job!

Well perhaps expats are becoming more creative. The problem facing many people is that it is not easy to sell a house in these more difficult times but we now hear of a British couple in Spain who have come up with a fascinating idea - to run a competition to win their property. Well, this is not totally unique but in this case the package not only includes their home (which they say is worth £ 1m) but also their business, "The Wild Wild West" tourist attraction, which they value at a further £ 4m - and they are even including their Harley Davison motorcycle!

The attraction of this combination of home and business is that the lucky winner should have both a home and a ready-made income.

In fact, the owners have a target of selling 200,000 tickets - and at £ 25 per ticket, an interesting chance for someone to become very wealthy when the draw is made in early January! Apparently if the target number of tickets is not sold, then the winner will receive the money taken up to that date. Anyone wanting to find out more can see the full details and conditions on their web site...

newyearmillionaire.com

Bloggers unite on November 10th for Refugees United...

The main theme of this blog is expat life and we concern ourselves with insights into the lives of those who choose to relocate to foreign shores, usually to enhance the quality of their lives or careers.

However, only last week we touched upon some who migrated through no choice of their own, in reporting the recent legislation in Spain designed to make good some of the wrongs of the Spanish Civil War - in particular to offer the opportunity of citizenship to the descendants of those who were forced to flee the country at that time.

Well, today we go a step further in joining bloggers internationally in the "Refugees United" campaign, designed to spotlight the plight of those people who have become homeless, and perhaps stateless, as a result of natural disaster, civil unrest or war. Those families deprived, often over night, of many of the basics that we consider essential to normal life... shelter, food, warmth, access to health care, education, employment...

Bloggers around the world are united in raising awareness of refugees on this special day but if you want to make a difference on an on-going basis you can consider supporting one of the international organisations providing essential help and care to those in this desperate plight with a one-off donation or regular contribution. These links will give you an idea of what is possible...

British Red Cross

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

...and you can make a significant contribution by simply passing on the message...

Back home...

When the European Union was expanded in 2004, several of those new members were Eastern bloc countries, enthusiastic about membership for the benefit of their economies. However, it was probably not anticipated that this would lead to rapid creation of huge numbers of new expats, perhaps more accurately described as economic migrants. Yes, those countries experienced a mass exodus of skilled workers seeking employment and a new life in wealthier EU countries - and we soon saw, despite fears of the "Polish plumber" taking work away from citizens of the host countries, these workers quickly gain reputations as hard-working, skilled people, making a valuable economic contribution.

Taking as an example the much quoted Polish workers, by happy coincidence we are seeing the Polish community in Britain celebrate this week the 90th anniversary of Polish independence! Apparently the post-war Polish community in the UK had dwindled to about 60,000 by the turn of the century but following the EU enlargement in 2004 that rapidly swelled to about 400,000 people!

Well, only last week we were speculating here as to how the credit crunch might impact on expats, so it is interesting to read reports now that receding job opportunities and fears of UK recession are already seeing Eastern European expats rapidly repatriating themselves - in many cases returning with the benefit of having enhanced their careers with overseas experience and to home countries that are not experiencing the same extent of economic crisis and are actually in need of those skills. Excellent to hear some positive news in the midst of all the gloom!

For those of us Brits stranded on foreign shores, whatever our circumstances may be perhaps we should pay attention to this and not be tempted to go rushing back to Blighty just yet...

Photo: Aleksandar Momirovic

Returning home...

Continuing from the previous post on Spain and expats, but on a more sober note, there is a fascinating aspect of Spain's recent new legislation seeking to make good many of the wrongs of the Spanish civil war.

A large number of people were forced to flee Spain during the war and many remained in permanent exile, sadly becoming expats through no choice of their own. Now it seems that the new law of restitution will offer descendants of those exiles the opportunity to apply for citizenship of Spain. Apparently this could amount to as many as 500,000 people, although it is not known how many are likely to apply.

Another amazing part of the legislation is to allow former members of the International Brigades to apply for citizenship. Now quite elderly, these are people from overseas who travelled to Spain voluntarily and joined these brigades to fight against fascism.

Whilst this new law has apparently been controversial in Spain, it is sure to touch the lives of many people in a most poignant way - and it is exceptional to see this potential creation of large numbers of expats and what we could perhaps describe as repats...

A local representative...

An amazing story in recent days has been of an expat Brit who is a councillor in his local town in southeastern Spain. Perhaps no mean achievement for an expat, especially as it seems that his Spanish is not completely fluent. However, more significantly it was reported that, following the arrest of some of some of his council colleagues in connection with charges of alleged bribery, he actually became the town mayor by default!

A wonderful story, although it was later reported by the BBC that he had not actually been offered the post of mayor which was later taken up again by the released incumbent... a bit of an anti-climax for the story but what was fascinating to hear was that this small town has a population of about 11,000 of which the majority are British - now that is certainly an expat community!

This lead me to thinking of what reaction we would find here if we chose to stand as councillors. In fact, with a long history of British expats in many areas of France, it is not so unusual to hear of the odd Brit on a local council. However, in the hills of a rural area of the South of France we are in an environment where visitors from neighbouring villages can often be thought of as strangers and true foreigners are still regarded as something of a novelty... and with Brits representing about half of one percent of the population in our village, our situation is rather different to that expat enclave in Spain. Perhaps for now we should just support the most expat-friendly local candidates to represent our modest needs...