Originally Published:
If you suffer from what I like to call Wandermania, even just a smidge, it is likely that you have considered what it might be like to leave the United States to live in another country. “Josephine Baker did it,” you’ve probably day-dreamed, “Why can’t I?” Well, the truth is that you can, just like the estimated 5.2 million Americans living outside of the United States, and the Black women highlighted here in this ongoing American Airlines BlackAtlas series: Black Women Expatriates.
From China to Sweden to South Korea to England and more, these Black women stepped out on faith and left that with which they were so familiar to experience the world outside of their native lands. And because technology has simplified the interview process, I was able to ask close to 20 Black women expats the three questions that I hope might give you a glimpse into what it might be like to go ahead and make that move.
You may or may not be surprised by the answers from this first group of expats (all of whom have lived abroad for two years or more), but who knows? Maybe you will be encouraged to explore the world for more than a two-week vacation. Oh, the possibilities...
CHINA: Jo Gan
STATS: Jo is African-American “with a little cream added.” Originally from Columbia, Missouri, but lived in Naples, Florida for 18 years, so she considers Naples home. She has lived in Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province China for 4 years and is married to a local Chinese man and has two adult children: a boy (24), a girl (21), and a 2 year-old grandson. Jo has lived in both America and China but has visited the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Hong Kong. She is the Director of Foreign Teachers in a language school and the owner of a small trade company in Hong Kong, as well as a freelance writer, author and blogger in her small amount of free time.
Blog: Life Behind the Wall
1. What you love about being an expat: I love that every day is different and challenging. I love that I have a chance to meet people from all over the world and learn about their cultures and beliefs.
2. What you don’t love about being an expat: I miss my family a lot sometimes - I don’t love that; and I miss American people and the open-mindedness and honesty.
3. Advice for women considering the expat life: If I was to give some advice to women considering expat life it would be to please remember that women are not equal in every country. Make sure you research the women's rights in that country in which you want to live. Also, open your mind to the men in other countries: maybe your Mr. Right is across the sea somewhere.
SWEDEN: Lola Akinmade Åkerström
STATS: Lola hails from Nigeria but also lived in the US for 15+ years, so she considers herself Nigerian-American. She has lived in Stockholm, Sweden since 2009 and is married with a freshly minted baby girl (!). Lola’s longest stints abroad have been in Nigeria and various cities around the US before moving to Sweden with lots of travels in between. Lola works as a freelance writer and photographer and runs her own consulting firm which caters to various forms of media and art.
Web sites: Geotraveler Media; Akinmade.com; Geotraveler’s Niche; Sweden's Photo Blog
1. What you love about being an expat: Learning how to hone one's observational skills. I believe expats tend to be more observational than locals, and they appreciate even the most mundane of things a lot more.
2. What you don't love about being an expat: Living in that intermediate/middle space where you don't quite feel like you fully fit in, yet you've integrated far enough into the culture to not be able to make excuses anymore. It can be a lonely and depressing space to be in.
3. Advice for women considering the expat life: While finding local expat communities to hang out and commiserate with can be refreshing, avoid living in that bubble of comfort. Push yourself. Learn the language. Pursue knowledge of local culture. Interact with locals. Use expat life as an opportunity to add another rich layer of diversity to yourself.
ENGLAND: Dori
STATS: Dori is an African-American woman that hails from Georgia. She is married with no children and has been living in a yellow house in England for six years. This is Dori’s first experience living abroad and back home she lived in Georgia on land that has been in her family for over a hundred years. Dori is a homemaker, does a little editing on a part-time basis and is also a writer. Currently she is completing a degree at a university in England.
Blog: From a Yellow House in England
1. What you love about being an expat: I love being an expat because it gives me the opportunity to live within another culture. I also love having the chance to experience new places and customs.
2. What you don't love about being an expat: I don’t love the homesickness that I get sometimes or when I crave certain foods and I’m not able to get them here.
3. Advice for women considering the expat life: I believe that women should always keep their options open in order to experience what life has to offer them. I think that women considering the expat life should do their research about where they are going. I also think that it is important to visit your destination and, if possible, spend some time there beforehand to get a taste of what a place is really like before making the move. Visiting a place on vacation is vastly different than living in a place. Finally, I would just say, go for it!
SOUTH KOREA: Nicole Brewer
STATS: Nicole is an African-American woman from Detroit, MI that has lived in Detroit, Chicago and, for the past three years, in Busan, South Korea. An ESL (English as Second Language) teacher at a Korean high school, Nicole has no kids and is single (or Solo as they like to say in Korea).
Blog: Women of Color Living Abroad, Contributor
1. What you love about being an expat: I love immersing myself into a different culture. It's sort of nice having celebrity status with the stares and quick glances that come with being one of few Black women out and about.
2. What you don’t love about being an expat: I don't love being away from my family for such a long time. I sometimes worry about not being able to get back home in a timely manner in case of an emergency.
3. Advice for women considering the expat life: My advice is to go for it! Make sure you do your research on the boundless opportunities to work and live abroad; from volunteer organizations, the Peace Corp or teaching, there are many great resources out there. You will learn a lot about yourself, so don't have fear and follow your dream if being an expat is it.
Next up?
Part II: Carolyn in Switzerland, Davette in Barbados, Tatiana in Germany and Lily the serial expat - 5/14/12
Part III: Maureen in France, Sheryll in South Korea, Adrienne in Sweden, Arielle in Brazil - 5/21/12
Part IV: April in Jamaica, Nicole in Germany, Monique in The Netherlands, Oneika in London - 5/28/12
PART V: Natasha in Abu Dhabi, Margaret in Peru, Diana in Indonesia - 6/4/12
PART VI: Heather in Chile, Monique in Paris, Rachelle in Japan - 6/11/12
PART VII: Joia in Barbados, Shirley in Bordeaux, Adria in Colombia – 6/25/12
PART VIII: Carolyn in The Netherlands, Terra in Brussels, Robin in Denmark - 7/16/12
PART IX: Do you know another Black Woman Expatriate with a point of view she is willing to share that is missing from this list? Shoot an email to Tracey@OneBrownGirl.com and let's continue to celebrate Black Women Expatriates around the world...
Please note: Don't let the lack of Facebook "LIKES" fool you. The Black Women Expatriates series is the most shared series on BlackAtlas.com! Just so happens that all LIKES were accidentally deleted during editing. #imjustsayin
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