spainrico

A truly wonderful article on foreigners

http://www.economist.com/world/inter...ry_id=15108690

I wish I had written it.

spanishdancer

Loved this, thanks

bil

Yeah, good stuff. I particularly liked the bit about homesickness turning to nostalgia, which IMO usually then dresses in rose tinted specs.

cricketman

Yes that's a great article

One thing it doesnt mention is as many Brits know, it is possible to physically in a foreign country, but mentally still in your home country.

The improvement in communication over the past 20 years allows this. So many Brits for example enjoy the physical Spanish sun, but are still mentally in Britain through reading British newspapers, listening to English speaking radio stations, going to British ex-pat sites , watching British TV etc.

And because there are a critical mass of Brits in parts of Spain, they can now enjoy British schools, English breakfasts, British supermarkets, British hairdressers etc.

If those things didnt exist, Spain would be very much more foreign for them.

manamama

Thanks Spainrico..good article and interesting read.

For me, I feel very foreign..and despite looking similar to everyone else around, I feel very different. I wonder if everyone can see at an instant that I don't belong ?

MMMMmmmm..

Must stop thinking too deep on these things

HBG

An extremely perceptive article, almost a compilation of every expat thread ever written.

However, I don’t share the OPs wish to have written the article himself. Maybe it’s inevitable within the constraints of a word count, but I’ve never seen so many clichés in such a short piece.

It’s not a criticism of the meaningful content, not at all, I just couldn’t resist pointing it out.

And it’s true, I sometimes feel like the lonely cowboy riding and hiding on the high sierra, but if I wanted to be able to write like someone else, it would be Hemingway.

Mitzyboy

Those last two paragraphs especially are excellent, and very true of many.

jackytoo

Same the world over, look at the Irish abroad and the Scandinavians have schools, restaurants and churches on the CDS.

I asked a friend who has been out here for 25 years (only goes to the UK at Xmas as they can't afford more trips) if there was anything she missed. She said it was hard to describe but put it down to "familiarity".

There are so many Brits must feel trapped in Spain right now, especially the ones with illegal homes. Even if they don't want to go back it must be a nagging feeling underneath.

spainrico

Yes I thought people would enjoy it.

I admit to those early (long ago) days of 'irresponsibility' just getting up everyday to the sun and not having to race off to the office.

And of course we have all met these:

Perhaps foreigners are, by their nature, hard to satisfy. A foreigner is, after all, someone who didn’t like his own country enough to stay there. Even so, the complaining foreigner poses something of a logical contradiction. He complains about the country in which he finds himself, yet he is there by choice. Why doesn’t he go home?

Talking of sun - has anyone seen it lately, no I thought not.

bealerDSB

Ok, so I'm going to be very honest
There are far too many double-triple barrelled / hyphenated / languorous words in the first few paragraphs alone; For me to read any further.

I get the gist of the article, and I alone at least am very happy to be living in a Foreign Country; More over so very grateful !

In closing, I'm perfeckly happy regardless of various pros / cons
DSB.

spainrico

Yes I do agree it was a bit that way inclined - typical of The Economist - some of their articles are not very economic with words.

HBG

Purple prose and clichés aside, it was an excellent article. I liked the conclusion that foreigners eventually don’t have a home to return to, and I can well relate to that.

I attend a five-yearly school reunion from way back and far away. When we meet there’s an enthusiasm for the ones who moved away and the ones who stayed to swap tales for about two evenings, but then it’s time to move back to our respective places to resume our very different lives. Any longer would be torture for us all.

I tried returning once on a permanent basis and found that although the buildings, fields and forests were still there, the people, me included, have moved on.

It’s the traveller’s dilemma, home will eventually just be a place to hang your hat.

bealerDSB

Time & tide wait for no man
DSB.

bil

Heraclitus said 'No man can step into the same river twice'