Ex-pat, what is that?

Here's a view from the end of a trail we hike near our house. Amazing isn't it?

Well, its taken me forever to get back here. I've been swamped in work and family stuff: house-hunting, loan securing, birthday party planning. Anyway, I've been wanting to write about this topic for a while.

We're renting this great old house in a wonderful neighborhood. The previous tenants had to move out because there just wasn't enough room for themselves and their 4(!) kids. We still keep in touch with them and just the other day one of them refered to us (and themselves) as ex-pats. It really struck me because I've never considered myself an ex-pat. Maybe its because I wasn't born in the US so I've never considered myself a "pat" to begin with, though I did get my US citizenship in 2000. That was just so I could vote, what little good it did me. Also, Canada doesn't seem different enough or far enough away from the US for us to qualify as ex-pats.

I remember visiting Prague in the early 90's and meeting some ex-pats there in a bookshop. They are what I would consider real ex-pats. Living far away from the US in a different culture where they speak a different language. And living in a really cool city to boot. I guess technically we did this, my husband and I, when we lived in Copenhagen, Denmark for a year. That visit was temporary though and to me being an ex-pat means moving somewhere permanently. I was also not a US citizen when we lived in Denmark which was fortutitous. My husband was on a student visa and would not have been able to bring a US wife, but since I am an EC citizen they let me stay (and work). The immigration people said we had a "mixed marriage"??? Both WASPs, but DH's family emmigrated to the US before mine did.

Anyway, I'm getting used to the label of ex-pat. Its growing on me.

What to say?

Well, this is completely new to me so now that I'm here I'm not sure what to say. Hmmmm. Well, maybe I should explain the name of this blog. Just this past summer my husband and I packed up our family and moved from sunny southern California to the Great White North. Why you might ask? Well, it was partly because my husband got this great job up here, but he wouldn't have taken it if I hadn't been more than willing to move. And one of the main reasons I was more than willing to move was that I just couldn't take any more of George W. Bush. The US is headed in a frightening direction and I wanted to get my family and me out of the handbasket before its too late. I also really like the idea that in a way we're getting back at W because we're taking the graduate educations that the US govt pretty much completely paid for (13 years between the two of us) with us and Canada will reap the benefits. Our new homeland is more than deserving of any help it can get and so I'm really happy to give it. Yes, I know, Canadians just elected a conservative PM, but this place is still eons ahead of the US in so many ways. Anyway, more on that later. I want to post this now and see how it looks.