You may be wondering why we chose the name The Foreign Files?
Every language has at least one word for foreigner, and they all generally have a negative slant. It means outsider. Not like us. Someone who doesn’t belong.
We at the Foreign Files want to reclaim the word foreign and work to destigmatize it. Because all foreigner really means is a person outside of their home country. We want to talk about how normal and natural it is to be a foreigner and question why we applaud foreign exploration and migration in history books yet take such a negative attitude toward it now. Why are some foreigners called expats and others, immigrants, refugees, or explorers?
Having lived as foreigners for the past 5 years, we think the word foreign is useful. When you live in a country that has a language, culture, and customs that differ from your home country it can feel like learning to live all over again. And no matter how much you want to blend in, you don’t. You stick out. Everything about you signals that you are not a native. There are the obvious ways such as language and accent, appearance, and clothing. But there are many more subtle nuances that give you away such as mannerisms, attitude, and expectations.
The experience of culture shock is essentially your sense of reality clashing with a foreign or unknown sense of reality. You may get a taste of culture shock on vacation, but it doesn’t sink in until you try to speak the language while living the everyday culture, practices, and best of all, the unwritten rules of foreign countries.
Here at the Foreign Files, we embrace our foreignness and that of others. We know firsthand how difficult it is to live in a foreign country and learn a new language. We appreciate that not all foreigners are seen equally and can have drastically different experiences. We also recognize that even when someone is in fact native to a particular country, we may see them as an outsider based on their appearance.
We invite you to join us as we talk about our foreign experience and share stories of others. We believe there is no greater education than learning foreign languages and cultures through immersion. Which is why, after 5 and a half years, 3 countries, 5 schools, job loss, and countless challenges and adjustments, our family of four is still living abroad. Through our social media and podcast, we hope to inspire and invite conversations about one of the oldest human endeavors in our history, foreign migration.
And remember, foreign is not a 4-letter word.
