Expat Meme Overload

The British scientist Richard Dawkins introduced the word “meme” (pronounced /ˈmiːm/, rhyming with “dream”) in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a basis for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena.

This is what advertisers rely on in selling catch phrases, clothing, cars and even water. Consider the Evian Roller Babies, the commercial became a YouTube sensation in a week! In only a few days the video had over 2.6 million views and is currently at 10.8+ million views and climbing.

Memes are a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. This is how an entire society can quickly adapt to new rules and rituals.

When you arrive in a new culture you are bombarded by a salvo of new memes.  Expats are often in meme overload. You cannot learn them fast enough, or even appreciate them. Oftentimes you have no idea why you feel like a misfit or an alien from another planet.

For example, I’m an American, we eat any time of the day, that is any time of a 24-hour day. In France, the eating hours are generally fixed. I’ve lived in France more than three years and I’m still shocked to go to a restaurant at 2 pm (daylight) and to be told the kitchen is closed! They look at me as if I am a social idiot and I look at them with hunger in my face to no avail. My money not welcome after 2 pm nor pity because I hunger.

The most annoying French meme I shall not get accustomed to is the amount of personal space in a line at the supermarket or anywhere else. At times it is so unnerving I turn and say, “Back up just a little, you’re not Justin Timberlake!” Maybe if they were cute, sexy, and a fabulous dancer, it wouldn’t matter. I doubt it. I’m from the land of “don’t fence me in.”

Learning and adapting to all these different behaviors and finding ways to incorporate them without losing your identity is the challenge. It is one of the key reasons expatriates need to network with other expats and globally minded locals.

Perhaps this is why you find expat expos springing up all over the world.  They are little islands within a place where an expat can relax and celebrate being themselves, different than the host country. Most expats don’t want to live in nativeland ghettos. Many are open to being infected with expat friendly memes of a welcoming host.

Next time in line maybe I’ll turn and say, “Wanna dance? I’m bringing sexyback!”

Comfort Food

Living in France food rises high on the food chain of importance. It is trite to say the food is good in France. It’s like saying the obvious. But no matter how good the food is in France expats have their nation specific comfort foods. It’s one of the reasons the services provided online by the magazine Southern Living is one who’s tweets I follow. I love southern cooking. I have a family filled of great and wonderful southern cooks, halleleujah, amen, PTL!

I have lived a major portion of my life in the South, sweet Dixieland. Part of my family originates in this cultural rich area of America. Don’t believe all the stereotypes the people of the South are a great and grand people. The food traditions steep in the simplicity and the majesty of the region. Food, uhmmmmm southern comfort, I can smell the delicious fragrances just thinking about sitting at any of my family or neighbors’ tables.

Destined to become your expat 3rd culture kids' new favorite meal

Today Southern Living tweeted 20 one-dish dinners. They may be just the recipe for any homesick US expat or an adventuresome international needing a quick but delicious change in menu. While life is laid back and alot slower in France than in the USA, saving time in the kitchen is still valued. Perhaps even the fastidious French or other international gourmet taste bud might find these 20 recipes worth a try. They’re expat friendly so tell us what you think especially my friends in the gastronomic capital of France, lovely luscious Lyon.

Being at Home

I feel home,
when I see the faces that remember my own.
when I’m chilling outside with the people I know.
and that’s just what I feel.
Home to me is reality,
and all I need is something real.

lyrics by O.A.R. (Of a Revolution)

What is realilty when you move? The need for the creature comforts that reassure you. Researchers are beginning to understand more clearly the things that help people settle into a new place. Being at home anywhere takes preparation, implementation and integration of how you have lived and what you will face in a new place.

Face of Global Mobility

The face of global mobility is you. You, the intellectual capital of the world, are not often talked about in the news, but you move silently alongside and are intrinsically linked to international trade and capital. You represent globalization’s free movement of professional, technical, and student talent.

What is certain when you move is the search for information, services and social connections that will help you be at home anywhere. Being productive in the global economy begins when you feel at home and settled.

If you want a clear discussion of the personal and ROI dimensions of expatriations, you have safely landed. We’re expat friendly.