There’s a new “brand” of migrant workers, according to the International Herald Tribune: university professors. These professors say the merits of a foray abroad include an increased standard of living, a higher relative status where they can play a role in shaping the university, and of course international experience. One thing that jumped out at me though was something I’ve heard before. Regarding a professor who regretted her decision to come abroad:
… despite her hopes of contributing to an East-West dialogue, Richardson was unsettled to find herself feeling pulled toward her American identity.
“Culture is just a lot more powerful than I had ever anticipated,” she said. “I found that I really belong to this one culture — American — that I’ve been very critical of.”
Granted, she was a single mother (and a blond) teaching in the Middle East, where common discourse – correctly or not – holds that cultural differences would not be small.
But I’ve heard others say this as well, and it’s certainly not only about the Middle East. Does being abroad make you feel more a member of your “own” country?
If any of my readers really can’t tell, my general answer would be: no. I’m fairly vocal about various topics connected to my country, and as I mentioned here, I don’t like the idea that a person should be expected to “represent” their country when traveling or working abroad. Sometimes it strikes me that I am treated “better” (as in, I suppose, more of an equal) by people in certain other countries than I am in my own. But basically, being in another country just doesn’t make me feel more connected to citizens of my own.
But I’ll admit this:
There have been times when I’ve realized that something in my upbringing or socializing or something does seem to make it so I just will not be okay with a particular “thing” ever. For example, the idea of holding a large meeting without any real agenda, drifting from one topic to another and returning again, without anyone really in charge and without really ever reaching any conclusion. This is something I will probably always feel frustrated with. I think it has something to do with my personality and also, yes, with growing up in the United States. And I’m sure there are people from other countries who would say the same. I still wouldn’t say it makes me feel “more American” when I realize that…but it’s something I guess.
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Great post, Katie. Initially, I think I felt more American, but as I blended into a sea of other nationalities (fellow teachers from around the world, students from various parts of the East, etc.) I think I felt less and less American. It wasn’t instantaneous. Overtime, I felt, or perhaps even hoped, that I was just an ambiguous ‘westerner’. For me, when I was involved in some conflict, whether it was personal or professional, that’s when I realised how American I was. Americans tend to be a bit more direct, which was off-putting to my Irish Director and my Lebanese colleague. All I wanted to do was resolve the issue through talk (no dirty looks, no gossip-let’s just sort this out), and they felt this direct approach to conflict resolution was “aggressive”.
I think for many people, perhaps the woman you quoted, identifying with being American is what some people do when they face an unfamiliar culture in which they don’t feel they ‘fit in’. There are people who stay abroad for years, always feeling like they’re on the periphery. Under those circumstances, I think it’s natural to identify with nationality, though perhaps not healthy. Now…try coming back, no matter how American you felt all those years abroad, and see how “un-American” you feel upon arriving in your homeland.
Thanks - it’s an interesting topic. I think you’re probably right that conflict (as opposed to good times) kind of brings out the difference - maybe because of different ways of addressing conflict, or maybe just because we don’t really worry about it all till something isn’t quite right.
I think it’s also different depending on who is around - for example in a place where, when there are other Americans, they are either “international community” members or tourists, I tend to feel distinct from them - and not “so American”, specifically. Even though I’m definitely not a local, I’m somehow closer to that than I am to either of those groups (although I don’t think locals necessarily see it that way).
But in a different setting that might be reversed.
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