expat or immigrant?

As you can see I'm still thinking about the whole expat thing and Michael and I were starting to wonder how the term 'immigrant' fits into the whole argument.
Well the blonde librarian put it very nicely in an email. I thought I should really put this on my blog as it adds a whole new perspective to the discussion (and I hope it might encourage us to take our thoughts a little further 'round a different bend)

According to one definition I found, as opposed to an immigrant who comes to a country to live, an expat is one who always intends to return to their home country, so that made me wonder if I should call myself an immigrant instead.

I guess all in all it doesn't really matter what I am, but I have found that by labeling myself as an expat I have encountered lots of people going through the same types of experiences as I am and that makes for a great sense of community.

I totally agree with that and think that the label 'immigrant' might fit my situation a lot better but so why don't we adopt the label 'immigrant'? Is one more favourable than the other? Maybe going with what the blonde librarian said, going by 'expat' just allows us to whine and complain a little better (doesn't it just make you feel so much better to complain a bit when things aren't quite the way we like them, it certainly always works for me), whereas 'immigrants' might be more prone to loving their host country rather unconditionally, cause they have chosen to leave their country of origin (presumably cause it wasn't as good as the new place). Hmmm ..... it is all rather confusing.

So I guess as Christina also pointed out in her comment after all they're just labels that might make it easier to find people in similar situations (it's certainly what it's been for me) and I do agree with that but being German with a need for exactness I can't help feeling that those different words do mean very distinctly different things ... but that somehow brings me back to the beginning, so I might just have to contend that the label 'expat' is a perfectly well functioning one that seems to unite us all no matter what the specifics of our situation.

am I or am I not?

I haven't been writing anything lately and that that was partly due to our family going away, me deciding that a lunch time nap might be the better option (to be energetic enough for my two monkeys in the arvo ... though today I've decided that a cuppa will have to do) and me reading other blogs. Most of those blogs are labeled expat-blogs and I started wondering whether I fit the description.

Am I or am I not?? Do I qualify as an "expat"?

According to dictionary.com an expat is:

1. One who has taken up residence in a foreign country.
2. One who has renounced one's native land.

I certainly haven't renounced Germany and Australia was a foreign country to me, but after living here for 4 1/2 years married to an Australian I can't help but feel that it really shouldn't be a foreign country any more.
Maybe that's partly connected to the attitude that any immigrant should assimilate and become Australian (whatever that means).
Gotta share a little story here:

I was sitting with a bunch of people I know when they started talking about "those immigrants" that just keep their own culture and don't assimilate. So I wanted to stir them up a bit and said "You mean people like me!" cause really I try to maintain a German culture in our home (not just for the kids' sake).
One of them answered "No, you're not like that, you're practically Australian." (or something to that effect, I do have to admit the conversation happened about a year ago.)
I said "No, I'm not!"
"Have you eaten a meat pie?"
"Yes, I've even cooked one once."
"There you go, you're practically Australian!"
Hmmm ... is that what it takes to be Australian? I might as well be Thai, since I cook Thai food at least once a week. But since national identity is a topic way to complex for what I was wanting to write about here I won't go any further with this.

So to get back to my original thought, Australia is not really a foreign country any more. I am quite accustomed to it (maybe Germany has even become a foreign country to me ... since I do think I'll find a lot of things qute weird over there after living here). But does that mean I am not an expat, could I possibly become an expat in Germany were we to go and live there??
I certainly don't think of myself as Australian. If someone asks I always say without hesitation, that I am German. But what is expatriation linked to, the nationality you've got or where you feel home is or isn't (which could easily bring me to my next topic, where is home, do I have two homes, one home or none ... two half homes might be most accurate but how is that possible??).

So maybe that's just what it comes down to if I look at the whole thing from the perspective of our family as a whole, it's not an issue since the BFG is an Australian (in his passport, by birth, place of residence, his parents and grandparents were born in here, the country that is home for him and probably the culture and customs he feels most at ease with are also Australian). Our family is most definitely not an expatriate family (neither here or in Germany).

But I as an individual have been an expat here and for the sake of our family, my relationship with Michael and my own sanity, have taken on this place as home.

So am I or am I not? I think I have been, and am not anymore!!

But I think I'll still read the expat blogs and identify with them to some degree, I guess I'll never again be either one or the other. I'm a bit of both, we are very much both and so the expat perspective is probably the closest for someone like me.

books, glorious books!

I Read this book just the other day by Mem Fox, a brilliant children's book author and literacy consultant as well as literacy professor (not that that gives her greater credibility, but I just love her stuff).

I found the book truly inspiring ... maybe cause it says what I've wanted to hear anyway "Go ahead, indulge yourself in books!! Have as many as you like ... and maybe even a few more!" I had a similar reaction of "Yes, yes, yes!" when I read the poem 'Television' from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

Forget about the subtitle of the book, which is quite offputting. I don't like this sort of self-help stuff that claims to tell you the secret of how you can achieve the impossible in 2 weeks.

The book itself is a really good read for any parent or person looking after children and reading to/with children. It has reminded me once again of how much fun there is to be had with books and that it is also extremely beneficial for children to be read with (even if it doesn't teach them how to read before they start school).

And for ideas on where to find good Australian children's books check out the Children's Book Council of Australia.