Welcome to Gorbman.com
This website concerns itself with the way of life experienced by people who have left their native countries and moved to foreign lands. We like to call ourselves Expatriates. This is a romantic image, reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker. Times, however, have changed.
Wikipedia defines Expatriates this way: An expatriate is any person living in a different country from where he or she is a citizen. The term is often used in the context of professionals sent abroad by their companies, as opposed to locally hired staff (who can also be foreigners). The differentiation found in common usage usually comes down to socio-economic factors, so skilled professionals working in another country are described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer who has moved to another country to earn more money might be labelled an ‘immigrant’. There is no set definition and usage does vary depending on context and individual preferences and prejudices.
This is an amusing definition when you think of third world immigrants who move to the USA or Canada. They aren’t usually conferred with the title of Expatriate.
We, from the USA and Canada who live in foreign countries, do so for a variety of reasons. Everything from work to quality of life to economic advantage. And some of us leave our home countries to escape our lives there. We are fugitives, heartbroken lovers, failed businesspeople, and people estranged from their families. And some of us move because we just love our destination country.
Whomever you are, this site is for you. We welcome comments on our blog and encourage guest articles and editorials.
This site originates in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and Seattle WA USA.