Welcome to the fifth interview in my Adjusting to Expat Life series.  I’ll be running two interviews a week over the course of six weeks, writing about my own experiences adjusting to expat life in Peru, and rounding up the best expat resources on the web.

Apologies for the late posting – this interview should have gone up Friday but I suffered from some Bolivian internet woes in Copacabana.  On the upside, check back tomorrow for a photo essay on the incredible Isla del Sola.

American expat Heather in the Forbidden City, Beijing. Image: Heather Wright

Interview #5:  Heather Wright as an introverted expat in China

This week I’m talking to Heather Wright, author of On The Fringe, a wonderful blog about life as an introverted expat, on the fringes of Chinese society.  A serial expat, originally from the US, Heather has lived in Kuwait, Costa Rica, Spain and Canada.  Here, she shares the challenges of expat life in such a culturally distinct country as China, and not knowing what or where home is!  She also has some excellent advice for newbie expats.

How long have you lived in Beijing?

I’ve only lived here about 3 weeks, previously I lived 4.5 years in two smaller cities elsewhere in China.

What made you choose to move to China?

We came to China for my husband’s job and moved to Beijing for a new and better job.

How do you make a living?

In the US and Canada I worked as a registered nurse, but since coming to China I have worked as an aviation English teacher. Currently I am not working, but looking. My husband is a pilot and flight instructor.

Have you lived abroad in other countries before? Where? Was it easier or harder to feel at home?

I lived in Kuwait as a teenager. I lived in Costa Rica and Spain for a year each and I also spent three years in Toronto, Canada. I moved around the US a lot as a kid as well, so I never had a sense of “home” in the traditional sense. I honestly do not know how to answer the question, “Where is home?” It’s just wherever I happen to be. All of this moving has sort of morphed me into a serial expat. I am comfortable moving to a new destination every two or three years or so.

Are you part of a close-knit expat community, or are you closer to locals?

I’d say that we are more a part of the expat community, but we do have several close local friends. Since we just arrived to Beijing, we’re hoping to fall somewhere in the middle, with both expat and local friends. In Costa Rica I attended a university study abroad program so I mixed with quite a few fellow Americans, but lived in a local neighborhood with my then boyfriend (now husband) and roommate, so we had a mix of both worlds. In Spain, I was completely immersed in local community and never even spoke to another expat. (There aren’t too many foreigners in the part of Spain I was living.) In Canada, we were around a really eclectic mix of immigrants and Canadians.

How much longer do you plan to stay?

We have no definite time-table, but hope to continue to live the expat lifestyle moving from country to country as opportunities allow. We do want to establish a permanent base in Spain at some point.

Do you think about your adopted country as home, or as somewhere you happen to live, at the moment?

I think of my physical space as home, but I do not think of “China” as home. Again, I can’t really define what home is to me. I do not think of the US as home, either, however, if that helps.

What were the greatest differences you noticed when you first arrived?

Behavioral differences – what’s acceptable public behavior, for example. Children, and sometimes adults, use the toilet freely and without shame pretty much anywhere. Spitting is very normal. Pushing and shoving to get on a bus or subway car. No queuing.

What are the greatest differences you notice now?

The whole concept of “saving face” and using shame in work and education as a teaching tool. It takes a long time to uncover how that all works and what the nuances of the culture are.

To what level did you speak the language when you arrived?

Zero ability!

How did the language difference affect you?

It was really difficult to go about activities of daily living without a serious plan or a translator. It made me feel like an idiot most of the time, or like a child.

Beijing's street food. Image: Xiaming via flickr

Do you have a local partner? How does or doesn’t that help you integrate?

My spouse is Spanish and when we lived in Spain I think he helped me integrate. Not only was I exposed to his friends and family, but I could ask him questions about the culture freely, without worry of offending anyone. Here in China, we are on our own!

Have you taken out or would you consider taking out citizenship?

It would not be possible for me to become a Chinese citizen. I am, however, planning on taking out Spanish citizenship in the future once we establish a permanent home there. I would not lose US citizenship.

If you don’t have citizenship, what are your feelings on living in a country where you have no political voice?

China is complicated because most citizens are without a voice. While the government here does many things that disturb me, I’m not interested in getting involved in politics.

Was there a moment when you suddenly realised the extent to which you had integrated? To which you hadn’t?

When we moved from the smaller city to Beijing, after 4.5 years, I realized that I hadn’t integrated all that much. I guess because I was suddenly confronted with new people asking me how long I had been in China and assuming that I must be fluent in the culture and language. I am not at all, and that was really embarrassing.

What advice would you have for ‘newbie’ expats? What do you wish you had known before moving to your new home?

Research, research, research!! I advice all newbie expats to read as much as they can about their destination – books, articles, blogs, forums, twitter tweets, etc. Get to know what other expats and locals are saying. Also, read about expat life and know about culture shock.

There isn’t anything specific that I wish I had known before moving here. I did do a lot of research, however, so I felt prepared. It was nice to read lists of products from my home country that were unavailable. That way I could decide whether they were important enough to bring with me. I imported a year supply of deodorant, for example, and am I ever glad I did!

I can definitely relate to Heather’s comments about the language gap.  I remember my three months in Spain, watching conversations like a tennis game, smiling mutely and feeling like there was a bright spotlight on my stupidity.  It must be one of the most difficult parts of integration in a foreign country.

In the interests of following Heather’s advice on collecting as much information as possible before taking the expat plunge, on Wednesday I’ll be rounding up the best expat resources on the web, before we have a double whammy of interviews on Thursday and Friday to make up for lost time.  On Thurday, with Vago of Vagobond in Morocco, and on Friday with Todd of Todd’s Wanderings, who’s in Kosovo.