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How important do you find being part of an on-line (or other) expat community, like this forum?

It's a lifeline to me - I need to hear from others who I can identify with.
16 (31.4%)
It's helpful for research before making the move
9 (17.6%)
I've made the move and it's helpful for learning about my new home
2 (3.9%)
I check in occassionally to see what's new
6 (11.8%)
I'm just interested in asking my questions but not being "active"
0 (0%)
I've made good friends here and love to chat with others who have made the move.
18 (35.3%)

Total Members Voted: 43


Topic: Importance of an expat community  (Read 12200 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #150 on: July 20, 2005, 01:15:18 PM »
Honeybee, I've never met anybody in person on this site. 

I'm not sure how much I do or don't fit in.  I don't think I've thought of it so much in those terms.  There are lots of people here with a wide variety of personalities and opinions.  As in real life, some people you hit it off with and others you don't.   You can't be all things to all people. 

I'm sure if I'd found this site sooner, I'd have met some people personally before I left Egland.  I'm still hoping that when I return for a visit, I'll be able to do so. 
"Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens." -
Douglas Jerrold


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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #151 on: July 20, 2005, 04:27:55 PM »

Hopefully you mean as meaningless banter . . . . ?  ;D

Oh yes!  Dilute that conversation as much as possible!  We wouldn't want any intellectually stimulating topics to emerge...  ;D
"Anyone who burns his backside must himself sit upon it." - Scottish Gaelic Proverb


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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #152 on: July 20, 2005, 04:32:02 PM »
;D if it makes you at ease ...I'll say yes.....anyone recomend a good wine ;D

Is this my cue to recommend Big Frank's Deep Pink?  ;)
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

- Benjamin Franklin


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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #153 on: July 20, 2005, 04:39:16 PM »
Is this my cue to recommend Big Frank's Deep Pink?  ;)

 ;D ;D ;D ba-dum-dum!
I know I'm late - where's the booze?


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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #154 on: July 20, 2005, 07:33:03 PM »
By the way, that joke. The idea was that with the types of reponses I was getting to expressing my thought here, it might not be a good idea to let you all know what London Tube stations I would be in, considering what has been happening at London Tube stations. I thought some folks might think that making a joke that involved the bombings, even marginally, was in such bad taste it would start the whole thing over again. Really? Nobody got the joke?

DJC


Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #155 on: July 20, 2005, 07:41:42 PM »
We got the joke.  You're right, it was in pretty bad taste.  But as for starting everything up again, well, I think it's run it's coarse, don't you?  I think the general mood is let's move on from here.  You were given the opportunity to respond, more than enough people had their say, so let's go back to the original topic or you could join in one of the hundreds of other topics on this forum.  There's loads of interesting conversations to choose from or feel free to start your own.   :)  But anything related to what you said, how it was said, what you meant or anyone's response to you should really be taken to pm.


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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #156 on: July 20, 2005, 07:56:40 PM »
Woa........Mindy...........you go girl!!

Snaps for Mindy..............




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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #157 on: July 20, 2005, 08:12:49 PM »
Well said thank you Mindy. I think the majority of us have had quite enough of the who said what to whom debate.

I'm a Brit so obviously I am not an expat but I have lived outside the UK so do have some idea of what it means to be one. I joined UK Yankee a few months after my husband moved over to the UK to be with me because he seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to life in the UK.   

Shortly after I joined UK Yankee there was a big picnic in Hyde Park that was organised by Wishstar so I dragged hubby along to that and we met several other UK-US couples and it really made a big difference to us to know that others had gone through the same things we had. Up until then we didn't know any other couples who had met online so felt like weirdoes.  It was also really good for my husband to hook up with other Americans and talk sport and bemoan the lack of Mexican food in the UK etc etc. 

Since then we've met up with some of the same people we met that day and others on several social occasions. I wouldn't say meeting up in the flesh necessarily means you know that person better than the ones you only know online or that it makes you more a part of the forum than someone who doesn't go to any meet ups.  Some people who come to the meet ups rarely post at all while others who never come post heaps.

I also keep in contact with some current and former UK Yankee members through emails or other sites - those are the people I would say I know best from here.   Still I come back to UK Yankee every day, not so much to find out things to help my husband any more (he's a big boy, he can look after himself!) but just for a bit of chit chat and maybe I can provide a few tidbits of info useful to new arrivals to the UK.


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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #158 on: July 21, 2005, 05:26:04 AM »
In a way, looking back, I believe it was best for me to tough it out and learn by Baptism by fire.

Hi sistah goddess,

I did the 'Baptism by fire' thing in Germany. I had to learn a new language. I was like "Holy flippin' Christ."

I had a really hard time in that country. Long Story...

My husband laughs. I curse in German now. My Mandarin? Thank GOD, goddess and St. Anthony there was an expat community in Taiwan.

It was the only way I survived.

I endured monsoons and earthquakes as a given. Typhoons.

At some points? We looked at each other and laughed. When we were in Australia? Holy Given.

Talk about toughing it out.....





 
"The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purposes through him. As a human being he may have moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is 'man' in a higher sense - he is 'collective man', a vehicle and molder of the unconscious psychic life of mankind"
--Carl Jung


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Re: Importance of an expat community
« Reply #159 on: July 21, 2005, 05:50:28 AM »
Well said thank you Mindy. I think the majority of us have had quite enough of the who said what to whom debate.

Still I come back to UK Yankee every day, not so much to find out things to help my husband any more (he's a big boy, he can look after himself!) but just for a bit of chit chat and maybe I can provide a few tidbits of info useful to new arrivals to the UK.

You are lovely. You are always welcome in our home in London. You are a wonderful woman. 
"The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purposes through him. As a human being he may have moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is 'man' in a higher sense - he is 'collective man', a vehicle and molder of the unconscious psychic life of mankind"
--Carl Jung


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