Inaugural Post

For my inaugural post - I thought I'd give y'all some background on why this blog is necessary.

Simple pleasures bring me great joy and I delight in the daily adventures of life.  I love to observe the reactions and interactions that people have of life in general.  As expats, I think we are more aware of these experiences and we pay attention to how we feel and others feel about these encounters of life. For this reason alone, there are thousands of expat blogs from all over the world!!!  

Now, I challenge you to find even 50 blogs on the personal repatriation experience!

Go ahead - - - Go look - - - I'll wait

Interesting, eh?

This is not my first repatriation.  Back in the late '90s the Engineer Extraordinaire (I'm going to have to come up with a shorter nickname that suits my husband) & I lived in Antwerp, Belgium.  So I have had European and Asian expat assignments.  The two repatriation experiences have been totally different.  I expected this, as the first repatriation we were young and it was B.C. - Before Children.  We returned from Europe vs. Asia and we returned to our same home from Belgium, where as now, we are starting over in a new place.  Also, the assignment in Singapore was for a much longer time.

On expat assignments - It is relatively easy to find other expats (depending where your assignment is -remote village in Mongolia, maybe not).  They don't have to be from your home country - - you still are both expats in this new (to you) country.  There are clubs or tennis teams to join. If you have kids - the international schools provide ample opportunities to meet other expats.  You have long coffees/teas to share your day to day experiences or commiserate the hardships with your fellow expats.

Living here on the edge of suburbia - expats or even "repatriates" are very few and far between.  Though your day to day experiences are very similar to your fellow suburbanite, friends and family --- something is missing….

However, that little nuance of what is missing - - -I always find in another "repatriate" or an expat living in America.  They will laugh along with me when I tell the story of how in the grocery store I hoarded 10 boxes of Eggo Cinnamon Waffles and later excused myself laughing out loud, out of the check-out line because I realised they will be there tomorrow.  Or, when for the 50th time, I reach with my left hand to switch gears in the car - or flip the windshield wipers on instead of the signal!

This blog is mainly for me to share my thoughts and experiences readjusting to life in American suburbia.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you look forward to my future chronicles of repatriation.