{"id":250,"date":"2011-10-27T19:30:54","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T19:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=250"},"modified":"2012-10-15T10:11:48","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T10:11:48","slug":"highlighted-article-4-rules-to-live-by-for-ex-pats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/highlighted-article-4-rules-to-live-by-for-ex-pats\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlighted Article: 4 Rules to Live by for Ex-pats"},"content":{"rendered":"

4 Rules to Live by for Ex-pats by Pico Iyer<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2015My own first rule is to look for the distinctive good in any place and try to learn from it. The nature of expatriation is to live in a place very different from your own. You can either rail against these differences, or you can exult in them. In Japan, for example, the people around me are much more comfortable listening than speaking (especially with strangers), and they know how to make silence eloquent. I, therefore, though a verbal person, try to do without words in Japan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2015A similar rule is not to spend too much time in the company of other ex-pats. Fellow traveling foreigners can always afford a sympathetic ear, good counsel and a remedy for homesickness, but they can also wrap us in the particular fretting of an alien. Because the conditions around us will never change, the thing to do is to accept our circumstances and make the most of them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2015An ex-pat also has to develop, in most places, a strong sense of himself, as he would not have to do at home, where he is more or less typical. Part of the challenge of being an ex-pat is that those around you are likely to see you as something special, a symbol of opportunity. The hazard of being an American is that we come from the place that, to most of the world, is an epitome of power and influence. We can seem glamorous, or desirable, to those around us \u2013 as someone to be envied, or, more dangerous, befriended \u2013 and the ex-pat must neither be outraged nor flattered.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2015Perhaps the most important rule of all for being an ex-pat is that you must learn to see the world through the other\u2019s eyes. That is the whole point of travel. Of course, but what can be easy and exhilarating on a two-week trip to Mexico can be more punishing when one is sent there for five years. You are a guest in someone else\u2019s house, in effect, and you must accept the host\u2019s assumption \u2013 how he sees and decorates his world.<\/p>\n

Reprinted from the article \u201cSomewhere Man\u201d by Pico Iyer, p.74, Modern Maturity, May\/June, 2001.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4 Rules to Live by for Ex-pats by Pico Iyer \u2015My own first rule is to look for the distinctive good in any place and try to learn from it. The nature of expatriation is to live in a place very different from your own. You can either rail against these differences, or you can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[618,40,619,323,614,60],"class_list":["post-250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highlighted-articles","tag-article","tag-culture-shock","tag-ex-pats","tag-japan","tag-life-abroad","tag-teaching-abroad"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-42","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1530,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/blogs-of-international-school-teachers-a-leaf-around-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":250,"position":0},"title":"Blogs of international school teachers: \u201cA Leaf Around the World\u201d","author":"ISCommunity","date":"December 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad? Our 26th blog that we would like to highlight is called\u00a0\u201cA Leaf Around The World\u201d\u00a0 Check out the wealth of information in the blog entries of this international school educator who currently works at\u00a0Yokohama International School in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs of International Teachers"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs of International Teachers","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/blogs-of-international-teachers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen Shot 2012-12-05 at 9.31.08 PM","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/screen-shot-2012-12-05-at-9-31-08-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/screen-shot-2012-12-05-at-9-31-08-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1 1x, https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/screen-shot-2012-12-05-at-9-31-08-pm.png?w=525&h=300&crop=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1419,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/highlighted-article-an-educator-shares-about-his-over-20-years-of-experience-working-at-and-with-international-schools-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":250,"position":1},"title":"Highlighted Article: An educator shares about his over 20 years of experience working at and with international schools (Part 1)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"October 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"An educator shares about his experiences working over 20 years in and with international schools (Part 1) I began teaching a long time ago, in a brand new high school, 35km south east of Melbourne, Australia. I was trained as a Science and Mathematics teacher, but, over the years, I\u2019ve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/img_7549.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1274,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/highlighted-article-which-languages-are-the-hardest-to-learn\/","url_meta":{"origin":250,"position":2},"title":"Highlighted article: Which languages are the hardest to learn?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"June 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A look at which languages are easiest and most difficult for English speakers to pick up. \"The foreign service institute of the United States Department of State compiles learning expectations for many languages based on the amount of time it takes a native English speaker to achieve speaking and reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/06\/screen-shot-2012-06-12-at-10-39-19-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":461,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/great-link-2-whats-it-like-teaching-abroad-an-international-teacher-case-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":250,"position":3},"title":"Great link #2: What\u2019s it Like Teaching Abroad? An International Teacher Case Study","author":"ISCommunity","date":"April 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"We found this link at shelteroffshore.com which is a website geared towards expats. \u201cShelter Offshore is a directly aligned resource for internationally minded individuals \u2013 or in other less confusing and \u2018jargony\u2019 words, we the team who write and research for this online publication do so because we are passionate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10247,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/new-international-school-essentials-9-does-the-international-school-properly-deal-with-discipline-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":250,"position":4},"title":"New International School Essentials #9 – Does the international school properly deal with disciplinary problems?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"February 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"What reasons do parents think about when selecting a school for their children when they move abroad? Are there similar reasons why teachers choose to work at a school abroad as well?\u00a0 There are many different kinds of international schools and they are all in different situations.\u00a0 How important is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Tips for Selecting an Int'l School"","block_context":{"text":"12 Tips for Selecting an Int'l School","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/12-tips-for-selecting-an-intl-school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/principal-7141581_1280.png?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/principal-7141581_1280.png?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/principal-7141581_1280.png?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/principal-7141581_1280.png?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/principal-7141581_1280.png?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":412,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/highlighted-article-destinations-and-dispositions-ikea-dependence\/","url_meta":{"origin":250,"position":5},"title":"Highlighted article: Destinations and Dispositions (IKEA dependence)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"May 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What an interesting article by David Truss. I\u2019d like to talk about IKEA for a moment.\u00a0 IKEA is indeed the best friend of international school teachers.\u00a0 What a great friend too because it travels with you where ever to go to in the world.\u00a0 Within the first 2-3 weeks of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}