For the last 15 years, I have lived and worked in 6 countries other than my home country and I am always really blown away about how rude some expats are to other expats. It can feel like a competition on who has better acclimated or knows more about the culture, food, history, language, etc. the worst is when a few have found out that I am American (to their surprise) it is as though it is ok to trash the US or Americans since I live in EU.??? Anyone else experience this?

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Sounds very familiar. 4 EU countries for Us. When you think about the transition to move to a new country/culture and try to thrive - its a lot of work, it tests you and your family, and has many ups and downs, so naturally other expats would seem like perfect allies or friendly sympathizers to your acclimation journey, but no —it is totally like some weird competition and showdown on how much more they know than you, how wrong everything is in said country, or how you will never last (especially when they find out you are American). I stopped trying to join or engage in these communities, especially now that we are back in Spain where over 60% are British expats (that is a completely different rant).

Yes I have found people like this. But there are good expats too. You just have to find your crowd. I’ve made friends with locals but sometimes I don’t feel like they get how hard it can be sometimes to feel accepted, having never experienced the same challenges. Expats get that, but I think the newer the expat the more they feel threatened, or self conscious, and this is why they behave this way.

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