Here is my 5 minute brain dump as part of this great series. Here goes …

 

I’ve been an expat all my life. I was born an expat. As a child I hated the holidays. Everyone would go back “home” and some would not come back. Transience was just a part of life. Friendships were always intense even if they could never stand the test of time. However, many did. I now have friends on every continent and social networks have helped me get back in touch with many of them. Often we just pick up from where we left off. Some naturally remain avatars in my friend list on facebook and that is cool.

We need friends. We are social creatures. Do we need an army of BFF’s? No. That would be too hard to manage.  But we can’t just hold on to the friends of the past. Socialising online and Skype serves a purpose but I crave human interaction in its rawest form: face to face.

All too often expats seem to live somewhere, create a life only to hit PAUSE the minute someone “better” or from the past descends on their life abroad. Replies to emails usually read “So busy with XYZ from home visiting! Can’t meet up until after they leave” or invitations are turned down because someone else is around. Someone better.

Waiting to go “home” always makes me wonder what they see the country they are residing in as? It’s not a holiday – you don’t usually pay tax and stay on holiday for years. I guess not having a home makes this concept a bit abstract.

I love getting people from all over together. When a friend visits I usually have a party. I like mixing past and present – it leads to a possible future. Perhaps even a more interesting one.

So there you have it, are expats fickle friends? Are you guilty of hitting pause?

 

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This is my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post at all.things.fadra.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.