diplomatic-immunity.dk

An expatriate or expat is usually defined as a person that lives outside their country or culture of origin for a defined or undefined period of time. This website is the creation of a confirmed expat. Why confirmed? Well, because I have lived most of my life in countries other than my own. I have learned to appreciate the wild and wonderful, as well as the plain and mundane, while living abroad. Experience has taught me to be open to and ready for the strange, the unexpected or even the downright weird, when you least expect it.

My uncle was the first person to spark an interest for other cultures in me. Then came the National Geographic magazine. It opened doors to cultures that I thought I would never experience and parts of the world that I thought I would never see. It was also thanks to the National Geographic magazine that I developed my life long fascination with the female body already at the age of nine. Classes in cultural and physical anthropology came during my first years of college. Travel expanded my horizons even further. I had only positive experiences up to this point. I overcame and rejected the ethnic, cultural and religious phobias of my parents, for anything outside of their some what limited frame of experience. We all are to an extent the sum of our experiences as individuals.

The first foreign country I lived and studied in for any length of time was Denmark. It was here where I first discovered the phenomenon of culture shock. I would have to say that my newest experience with culture shock, came with the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Most people are only familiar with the caricatures, but there have also been politicians and other public figures that have compared Muslims to rats, cancer, etc. Things that in other parts of the western, European, North American, etc. frame of reference would be defined as hate crime or hate speech are considered by some Danes to be perfectly acceptable forms of expression.

Turkey is a big, beautiful and exotic country. The Turks drive their vehicles as if they are reliving a past life experience as one of their horse riding Mongol ancestors, swooping down on an unsuspecting village. The first time I saw a policeman get beaten up by an angry motorist was also in Turkey. Some years ago, there was a proposal in the Turkish parliament to force all motorists to carry the necessary amount of body bags in the vehicle, as a reminder of the consequences of reckless driving. Just before the law proposal was to be passed, it was discovered that the member of parliament that proposed the law had a family member that owned a factory where they produced… yes, you guessed it – body bags. ‘Nuf said.

Latvia, like Denmark, has experienced it’s fair share of wars and invasions. While making a radio program on Latvia after independence, I met a Latvian parliamentarian and Soviet era journalist. He told me a story about how he had been a partisan for the Red Army during World War II, working behind German lines. He used German radio equipment to direct German artillery onto their own troops. A huge reward had been promised if he were captured “dead or alive” by the Germans. However, he survived the war despite working behind enemy lines. As a Soviet era journalist, he had the opportunity to interview the then German chancellor, Willy Brandt. In connection with the interview, he came in contact with one of the members of Willy Brandt’s staff, who turned out to be the commander of the German troops he had been killing with their own artillery. The parliamentarian told me that at the time he feared for his life, but when the commander found out who he was, he was invited out on the town for a drink with those Germans that had survived his “nefarious” activities.

I met another journalist with a fascinating life story, at a dinner while I was living in Indonesia. He belonged to the Minangkabau ethnic group. The Minangkabau are one of only a few societies in the world that are practicing Muslims, but have a matrilineal based culture. Men only have a role to play according to the standing that their mother or sisters have in the society. As he explained it: “men can become politicians, highwaymen or journalists – I chose the lesser evil”. The centuries old Minangkabau culture is under threat due to Saudi pressure and manipulation in the internal affairs of the Minangkabau. The Saudis are apparently unwilling to accept the existence of a matrilineal, Muslim society.