::A Geek in Korea::

I just read an article about American emigration. It seems like I am ahead on the curve of this trend, as I left my home culture of the United States when I was twenty-two years old, and I haven’t lived there for more than six months total when visiting in the past eight years. While most of this article is focused on American Expats living in Panama, a lot of it applies to me as well. I didn’t set out on this path, but this is the path I am on, and I thought this was an interesting article discussing some of the topics I deal with.

The article states that there is a growing trend of Americans living abroad. The general assumption people tend to make when dealing with The United States is that immigration is a one way door. People spend their life savings, put all their hopes and dreams into getting a visa, and then work to come to the United States. Living in America is a dream realized, people still equate living in America with success.

The basic assumption is that no one from The United States ever leaves to find opportunity abroad. The simple fact that the article spends time explaining people leave for reasons other than political amuses me. I’ve never met a single person on a sojourn from the United States that claimed they left due to politics. I’m here by choice, plain and simple.

I really identify with the people in this article.

While business is what initially drew him to England, Sheren is now deeply attached to the British way of life. That includes everything from a generous government-backed system of social supports for all citizens to a mentality that is more comfortable with leisure. “I consider the quality of life here significantly better than what I would have over there,” he says.

Sheren acquired British citizenship and has at times been tempted to abandon his American one, but he attaches relatively little importance to nationality. His closest friends are an international lot, and he greatly values the freedom of movement that comes with a European passport. “I feel more like a sovereign individual,” he says, using the label coined by authors James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg in their book, The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age.

I definitely think the quality of life I am afforded in Korea outstrips where I would be as a married guy in the United States teaching. I wouldn’t even like to contemplate how much debt I would have had when I was ill for several months with bad stomach problems if I didn’t have insurance in the United States. I can live at a very comfortable level in Korea with very few sacrifices because of the Internet. Other than friends and family, there is little I miss about the United States day to day.

I’m someone that places very little importance to nationality as well. I’ve got friends from around the globe, literally. In my casual drinking group, I’ll run into people from Detroit, Vancouver, Moscow, Seoul, Cape Town, and anywhere in between. It doesn’t matter to me where you are from, as long as you are a friend, it’s all good. A new country is just another topic to discuss over a beer.

The article also discusses the risk of people leaving the culture they grew up in to start a business in a foreign land. I came to Korea not being able to blurt out their word for “Hello” reliably. I didn’t know a person on the entire continent of Asia, had never been abroad alone, and had no money for a fall back plan if this whole “Korean adventure” failed.

It may not be much of a stretch to say that today one of America’s strongest exports is its skilled, energetic, and often idealistic relocators. If America’s information-driven economy is the engine of globalization, it is fitting that Americans are working in those parts of the world that are being transformed by the process. They make up an entrepreneurial “peace corps”—establishing businesses, employing, instructing, setting examples, and often currying goodwill. It is a cliché, but still largely true, that many foreigners say that they distrust America but like Americans. These relocators have something to do with this.

I am, in part, on the first line of foreign relations every single day. My presence in this country is, if I want it or not, providing others an example on the culture I left. I will show the power of my culture through my example.

Escaping “sameness.“ Doing most of their work out of their condo, the Hudginses have two young children whose edu-cation at a local Spanish-language Catholic school is supplemented with materials that their mother downloads from the Internet. Describing themselves as libertarians, the Hudginses went abroad out of discontent, not with American politics but with a dull sameness they found in American suburban life. Even though they did extensive planning for the move, they admit that the challenges of the new life are considerable. (Some of the greater ones are imposed by the U.S. government, which, though it grants an exemption of close to $86,000 of earnings, is the only developed nation that taxes citizens who are living abroad and paying foreign income taxes.) But both are quick to say that the rewards far outweigh the difficulties. In addition to valuing the warm weather, the idyllic setting, a close family life, and a busy social schedule, both are clearly invigorated by days that that are demanding but not stressful in a culture that blends the modern and the traditional in a comfortable way. They appreciate the irony that American know-how and technology (largely the Internet) make it possible for them to enjoy what is in many ways a very un-American lifestyle. But they are doubtful whether they can go home again. “We may decide to pack up and move on one day,” Allison says. “But it’s more likely that we’d find some new port of call than move back to the States.”

This is another topic I’m dealing with at the moment. I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I really would have a big problem with reverse-culture shock if I ever went back to the United States. I can’t live in a suburb, drive a car, and root for a local sports team. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with living in a suburb and enjoying the company of neighbors. It’s just that once you get out and experience to vast array of things the world has, it’s tough to shrink that world back down.

It’s ironic that I’m dependent on the Internet and technology to provide me a life style that allows me to substitute for what I miss in the culture, but at the same time, I don’t want to go back to that. I’m very happy here, and I think it’s provided me with opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have gotten. I think of myself as grateful for having the opportunity to have an American background and upbringing, an American passport, but I don’t want to live there right now. Maybe in the future, if inspiration and hope can bring change to the culture, but for now, living outside of the United States is the right thing for me and my family.