Are you an Ex-Pat

I don’t know any other Australians in this metro area, though I think there must be some, perhaps working for or studying at OSU. We’ve met a group who live in Cincinnati, and gone there a couple of times for Australia Day parties. And the next closest that we’ve met is a woman who went to school with my wife, who married an American, and who now lives in Illinois. We see her one or two times a year.

Australians blend in with the masses here just like Canadians do, except that there are a lot fewer of us in the Midwest. (Australians like living on the coast, both in Australia and over here).

I like Vegemite, and I’ve even got some jars here. But what I miss is the nice Australian cracker biscuits to put the stuff on. You can buy biscuits like them in the UK too, quite cheaply, but the stuff they sell here is both more expensive and not such good quality as those in Australia.

As Ginger said, you can probably find what you’re looking for online. Is it SAO biscuits? Something else?

There are a bunch of websites devoted to selling Aussie products here in the US.

I’m an American living in Scotland, and before I came here I lived in Prague. My husband is Scottish, which is my reason for being here. I know a few other Americans but I socialize mainly with locals - people I’ve met through my job and through my husband’s circle of friends. I’ll be eligible for permanent residency next year, and citizenship a year after that.

What I really like is Vita-Weat. I usually bring a few packets back each time I go to Australia.

Yup We are a members of a british ex-pats group and have a piss-up once or twice a month. Good times

I’m a Canadian living in Texas. I came for grad school and I’ve been here 10 years now. Still no green card, immigration has been a royal pain. My wife is Taiwanese and I met her here. We comment all the time on how we screwed up, you’re supposed to marry an American to get a Green Card, not another foreigner.

I’ve met the odd Canadian but there were only 2 I really hung out with. One was in my undergrad class and got transferred here a few years after me. He was the best man at my wedding and we still get together. Another one I met in grad school at UT, a couple years ago she moved back to Canada. I’ve recently noticed we have a relatively new bar near downtown called the Maple Leaf. I haven’t had a chance to go yet.

Meh. I had a post all typed up and lost the connection, dammit. Quick summation of my incredibly witty and intelligent post follows:

Canadian expat living in the States, came down on a K1 visa. Got my green card, am eligible for citizenship, although I see no real reason to get it right now.

Anastaseon is another Canadian in the area, we met a couple of weeks ago at trivia.

Hi Ginger!

Canadian living in London, England. Absolutely loving it here. I have a handful of Canadian friends met while living in a hostel but they’ve mostly gone their own ways.

I have about 6 months left on my visa but my employer intends to sponsor me since I am so good at, um, Administrating! I have no idea if I have a good case but I am optimistic. (:

Canadian living in the US but I never really felt any strong Canadian identity to begin (I know, I’m the only Canadian that doesn’t care tremendously about being Canadian)…nor does it feel radically different for me to live here. My whole family got our green cards within a year of moving to the US and my parents became naturalised the minute they were allowed to do so. My father didn’t let me and my sister change our citizenship until our education was complete and we both stated that we no longer wanted to live there or go to graduate school there.

I did change my citizenship, just as I changed my citizenship to Canadian when I lived there. It’s far more than a vote-you can still discriminate on the basis of alienage for some types of jobs in the US and my current employer would not have hired me were I not a citizen. Also, I hated dealing with the INS and found the green card renewal process tiresome. I do still have an unexpired Canadian passport though I will likely just let it lapse.

There is the CIA - Canadians In Austin. They get together to celebrate July 1 and usually have events for teh Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.

Hi, Sir Andrew! MD still sucks!

I’m a Brit currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I left the UK at age 22 to do a doctorate at a government research lab in France. Although I’d been perfectly happy in the UK, I realized that the place where I’d spent the previous four years (Oxford) could get rather self-absorbed; the temptation to stay around there was a little too strong, and I didn’t want to end up as one of those people who arrive at age 18 and never leave. So, I applied to the French Government for a scholarship, and off I went.

In France, I fell in love with an American and we moved in together; her work permit ran out at around the time I was finishing up, so I applied for postdocs in the US and got one in Washington DC (my GF found a job in Philadelphia, and Amtrak got a lot of business from us on Friday and Sunday evenings for the year before she moved down to DC). So, in answer to the OP’s question of how I ended up in the country in which I now live, cherchez la femme.

Eventually - newly single again - I set up a small business with a colleague who had moved to Northern California. Although it wasn’t necessary to be in geographical proximity, I decided that I needed a change of venue. I’d traveled extensively throughout the US, and chose to move out West. The final choice came down to Seattle or San Francisco, and SF won out.

Although I’ve never loved a city as much as I love San Francisco, I think it may be getting time to leave. I’m now single once more, and am in a situation where I can’t get affordable health care coverage due to well-documented spinal problems. This wouldn’t be an issue in most European countries, so it may be time to start on a new adventure. Not necessarily in the UK, however: I’m good with languages, and may find my calling on the Continent again.

I’m not a US citizen. If a viable Universal Health Care program were implemented, I’d consider applying, although I’d never be flag-wavingly patriotic because that’s really not my style.

Although I hang out with a lot of people who aren’t originally from around here (not hard in the SF Bay Area!), I don’t seek out Brits in particular. I’m pretty comfortable with anyone who’s traveled, and especially with those who have lived – or are living – abroad (from their perspective). I was never overly nationalistic growing up, and never really supported any local sports teams, so don’t feel a need to fly the flag or act particularly British. I still like pubs and prefer British-style beers to lagers, however.

Aussie in Bahrain. Moved here to work as a flight attendant, met my husband, moved back to Australia (without him) and then finally (after 2 years ultra-long distance relationship) moved back here to a really good job and got married. Haven’t applied for citizenship yet, mainly 'cause I would have to surrender my Aussie passport (although the embassy in Riyadh says they would give me another one straight away).

Going to the Australian Association Mid-Summer Dinner on Thursday night, in fact - should be a good piss-up, despite there being too many Brit hangers-on at our get-togethers (I suspect ours are more fun, as the British affairs seem to always consist of people complaining about the weather and how lazy their housemaids are)!

THANK YOU Aguecheek !!! It’s “expat” not “ex-pat” (one of my pet peeves, sorry).

Me too tho’. Brit, lived outside the UK for the best part of 12 years. Different places in Europe. Been here for five years, my longest stint anywhere so far. Will most likely move on again - the Husband is Irish so that’s always an option.

I don’t think I ever planned to become an expat but it just happened - I teach English to adults and so work took me to different places. A career opportunity brought me to Paris, now I need a reason to leave rather than a reason to stay you know ?

Serioulsy I can’t see myself living back in the UK. I enjoy it when I’m back there, love the countryside, enjoy seeing family and friends etc. but just … there are certain aspects of the place I just don’t like (cough binge drinking cough drinking to get drunk cough aggression cough dumbing down).

Because of my job I’ve always been in contact with other expats and when new in a country that’s been the basis of my social life but it’s a rough and ready expat experience. By which I mean generally the people I mix with are on local salaries and live life here as they would “at home”, looking aftre themselves rather than embassy employees or people on expat salaries whose company solves any housing, visa tupe problems. Not that I disparage those people, I just don’t meet them is all - except for when I was in Poland … watching the Five Nations rugby at the British Embassy in Warsaw … good times. The other thing is I’m not a “joiner”; there’s a Paris Welsh Society and I like them when i meet them but I wouldn’t sign up for it.

Some have said they plan to return, others will stay in their adopted country. I have no earthly idea what we will do.

You’re not the only one. The more you work outside of your home country, the more you learn to disregard the propoganda that the locals back home feed you about how much better it is to live there than anywhere else and the more you realize that it is not better, it is just different.

Uzi, I agree with your statement. I had to live in the US for awhile before I realized what a load of horse hockey I’d been fed about what kind of hellhole the US was, and how great it was to be in Canada. It’s not that great. Just different.

You’re obviously not Gay or Lesbian. Things here in Canada are MILES ahead of the U.S. At the moment the U.S. is very depressing and negative compared to Canada when it comes to Gay rights. (And I say that coming from the Bay Area which is touted as THE wonderful place for Gays and Lesbians.) Here in Canada, Gay rights are for the most part a non-issue.

I’d venture to say that the load of horse hockey being fed is on the American side when it comes to “land of the free” for Gay people. :frowning:

Well, Daffyd, I didn’t mention anything about politics, body or otherwise, nor any other thing for that matter. I just said it was different, the implication being that it wasn’t as bad here in the US as it was made out to be, as a place to live and work.