As I have casually observed the blogsphere and while interacting with students from various countries at University, one thing that has been bugging me is the use of the term 'ex-pat community". It is thrown around carelessly without much thought to the meaning of the word.
I have commonly heard phrases such as "Oh, he is very well known in the ex-pat community". There are currently over 1,000,000 foreigners residing in Korea as of last year. When people say these words who exactly do they mean? Foreign students, factory workers, wives, husbands, English teachers, engineers down in 울산? and the list could go on. Lets have a closer look at the meaning of the word according to Oxford.
Expatriate
noun
Pronunciation:/ɪksˈpatrɪət, -ˈpeɪtrɪət, ɛks-/
- a person who lives outside their native country:
Origin:
mid 18th century (as a verb): from medieval Latin expatriat- 'gone out from one's country', from the verb expatriare, fromex- 'out' + patria 'native country'
So it basically means a foreigner who lives here. Unfortunately when I hear the term tossed around it is used to refer to specifically anyone who lives in or frequents the areas of 이태원 and 한남동, like they are the only important or relevant 'ex-pats' in Korea. Often English teachers and well-off businessmen who work here are also implied to be part of this 'elite group'. Now don't get me wrong, I currently teach English myself and am trying to work my way into the business world here.However, there are communities of of ex-pats everywhere, in every city and throughout the countryside. If I were to go back to New Zealand and say to someone "He is very popular among the ex-pat community.", people would ask you what the hell that meant. I guess what I'm saying is that the term 'ex-pat community' does not necessarily mean a bunch of white guys drinking in a 서울 bar on a Thursday night but encompasses a whole variety of different ex-pat communities made up of people who do many different things.
What really grinds my gears is how the media uses the terms accordingly as well. Just search 'ex-pat' for yourself on any of the Korean news sites. Now try and search for the word 'immigrant' and see what articles you get. According to the Korea Times (Yes, I know not the best source, but it was easy to search), the term "ex-pat" means anyone in the 이태원 and 한남동 area with a decent income. whereas if you are an "immigrant" you must immediately be a South East Asian married to a Korean or a factory/construction worker from abroad.
Now I can hear you saying 'Well a lot of those immigrants will live here for the rest of their lives while I'm just here for a few years and plan to go somewhere else.' What a load of rubbish. Construction, engineering and factory workers from places like Cambodia, Pakistan, Russia, Vietnam to name a few will definitely be going back to their countries. I also know plenty of people from the "blue collar ex-pat" community who will or have decided to live here long term. (Myself being one of them)
Does being an ex-pat make you part of the ex-pat community? Of course not. Plenty of people do not want to be associated with the articles like this and for good reason. I on the other hand think of myself as part of various communities that I have made for myself such as, my work community, twitter community and university community.
So next time you write the phrase 'ex-pat' community, think about who you really mean. Otherwise I'm just going to assume you mean every person here living outside of their native country.
You make an interesting point. Perhaps the problem is more one of dictionary definition vs. common use. I think most of those people mean "the community of western-born expat professionals with whom I associate."
ReplyDeleteI agree that the article you linked to makes some awful assumptions that don't ring true to me, but it seems that what rightly upsets you is when people unfairly attribute these sorts of traits to you.
Sure that upsets me but that is only a small part of what I am getting at here. It's almost like the term ex-pat community is to used distinguish "the community of western-born expat professionals" from other "immigrants" (as used above).
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