The idea of national boundaries - the simple consequence of historical inertia - always bugged me for some reason. It's not as if they necessarily trace cultural boundaries. Metropoli, even though they certainly have their challenges, might be a model to look closer at.
Agree, I never understood how some people are so attached to political boundaries, especially how some die for them...! Cultural boundaries are relevant, one doesn't need physical gates to separate people there.
Excellent essay, Monica. So many brilliant questions! Even as technology brings us closer together, humans evolve slowly. Fear of foreigners that has been around forever will continue. We have made travel and crossing borders easier. As you point out, people from many EU countries can move and settle freely in other countries. Most don’t however, so those who do will always be a minority amongst those who don’t, and they’ll be treated as “not one of us” by those who stay put.
Great points, Paul! True, humans evovle slowly and still only a small minority moves. I looked for the number some days ago and I think it was 3-4% globally...! Surprisingly small.
My partner (German) and I (US citizen) moved to Switzerland 25 years ago. During the 17-year-long wait before we could apply for citizenship, we persistently referred to ourselves as “Gastarbeiter.”
The local Swiss were offended by this. Other foreigners found it funny.
Now that we’re Swiss and thus officially allowed to rail against the “economic migrants” who come here hoping for a better life, I refuse to do so.
Hi Caroline, I bet it must have been quite complex to get the Swiss citizenship. I've been a foreigner for almost 20 years, in 3 countries, and I'm not sure anymore how to feel but like a Gastarbeiter. :)
(Sorry for my late response, I was off the grid for a few days)
Such good questions!! !! Here in Melbourne people often talk to me, not to the boyfriend, because I look like """"I'm from here"""" whereas he looks asian. Which is still one of the top communities. It makes zero sense. I should write an article on the everpresent Acknowledgement Of Country when, in reality, First Nations peoples are rarely in the rooms where it happens.
That sounds insane! Not address him because he doesn't look like he's from there?! What world do we live in?! Yes, you should write up something about that. A post about your boyfriend titled "Where are you from, and WHY?" haha
Well this was timely! I'm a Brit living in the US now with dual citizenship. I've been here almost 40 years and I must confess I can go weeks without thinking about it. Of course, Britain is one of the favored countries, and not one of Trump's "shithole" countries.
I recently returned from a trip to the Santa Fe area in New Mexico, where Spanish is almost as common as English, cars with Mexican license plates are seen on the street, and there's a large Native American presence. The different ethnic groups seem to mostly get along. There seems to be a general awareness that the Native Americans have been there thousands of years, the Spanish hundreds (NM was part of Mexico longer then it's been part of the US), and white folks just a couple of hundred years. White people are the immigrants. While all of that is true thoughout the Southwest, and as far as Native Americans are concerned, throughout the country, I don't see it recognized statewide anywhere else except Hawaii. May we all become more aware.
Thanks for sharing a bit about how NM "looks" like. I've never been there, but that's what it's about: who is the foreigner there, is anyone a foreigner, or are they parts of the melting pot? I bet it's a culturally interesting State with all the ethnic groups coexisting.
Oh, this is an excellent post! Congratulations on your ability to compile this information in such a thorough manner! You raise such insightful points; I appreciate your willingness to share them.
What an interesting read, Monica. There’s so much that could be said about the concept of being a foreigner and I guess when you’re in a place that is not the one you were born there’ll always be that perception from others, especially if there’s a hint of an accent when speaking the language. Back home, until very recently, if someone from a nearby town came to live to our town they were considered “forasteros” even though they came from 10 km away!!! This always puzzled me as in rural Spain there is a very strong connection between people and the land. In London is quite fascinating how you can forget you’re a foreigner until you are among British people, who tend to remark your accent, where you are from and things other foreigners usually never mention that much. So yes, you can be both integrated in the city and blend in its diversity but equally made feel that you’re not really from here the moment you open your mouth 😂
It's true that a big part of feeling a foreigner is due to our accents. I can imagine the Brits must be picky about the proper way to speak. I think your example with the Spanish villages it's similar to historic times, when people knew everyone in their tribe/village so someone outside that group was automatically a forastero. I'm curious, from which part of Spain are you?
If that’s any consolation, most people in the region (myself included) haven’t read El Quijote. At school they thought it was enough we learned it was written somewhere in the area 🙂
Brilliant piece Monica! I think if we ever were to live in a world where no one is a foreigner anymore (based on where they’re from), I sadly think people would make social class, mobility, political orientation etc an even bigger focus topic.
Othering of people has always been a way to feel belonging and create exclusion of others based on some markers is the basis. There’s a lot of academic research that’s absolutely fascinating, highly recommend 😇
hope I’m not too negative I just read hundreds of peer reviewed papers on this topic over the years
I love this!!!! I am passionate about language and I despise the word expat, albeit there is a slight definition difference between expat and immigrant, I proudly say I am an immigrant. As you said the word immigrant has strong connotations and I feel like my white skin and blue eyes aren’t what is first thought of.
I didn’t know any of the words you said for foreigners, gabacho sounds so much like gaspacho in my head. I suppose being so far south it’s not relevant vocabulary here.
I also hadn’t heard of sudaca either, but when I asked my partner about words for South Americans he did say it. The word I hear more is panchito, I’m not sure where it comes from exactly but I don’t like it either.
They use the word guiri for Northern Europeans, it depends who you ask as to who that includes but I’d be one. But I don’t believe you would be coming from Romania. I use the word guiri for myself, I think a form of taking power over a word that could be used to separate me.
I didn’t know till only very recently that the word alien, illegal or legal, is an official government term!!!! I knew it from the song by The Police ‘I’m an alien, I’m an illegal alien, I’m an immigrant in New York’. But I thought he was referring to how he felt in a foreign country rather than his official visa status!!!!
And lastly, the official word in Spain for foreigner, extranjero that comes from the word stranger. I remember that sitting with my weirdly when I first arrived, that I’d be always known as a stranger… I feel differently after time but words do have power.
I love your last question, are we all just foreign in some way. I can’t help but mention aside from the aboriginals, everyone in Melbourne is foreign! And you could probably do the same about most land around the world, the idea of someone being there first and who was that first person.
Great article, Monica - I am glad I accidented upon it. Like you, I’ve always questioned the concept of borders and foreignness. When I read Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, it is the idea of borders and how they can harm us that rang most true for me (the film version didn’t explore this idea well). Being from the U.S., it has always seemed natural for me to think of everyone who isn’t a Native American as a “foreigner”, or rather, someone who has immigrated (with devastating effect to the non-immigrant population, of course). I find it offensive that some members of the “white” population in the U.S. can seriously even consider anyone in that country a “foreigner”.
I now live in Mexico, where I am quite obviously a “foreigner”, a “gringo”. Even though I am a Mexican citizen by birth, my physical appearance makes me foreign in Mexico. It doesn’t bother me to be called a “gringo” - I know it is just an expression, a means of quick and easy identification. And I am cognizant of the fact that the power dynamics of me being a “foreigner” in Mexico are vastly different than the dynamics for non-White people being “foreigners” in the U.S. People in Mexico see me as “wealthy”, or economicially advantaged. Which, compared to the vast majority of people in Mexico, I am. Still, it does create a sense of “otherness”, even though except of my white skin and my U.S. bank account, I feel more aligned to the values of a Mexican person than the values of a U.S. person.
It seems to me that if we are going to practice group selection, selecting on values seems like a better place to start. But those aren’t as easily identifiable as skin color or language or accent. Living in Mexico has given me the opportunity to better reflect on how we immigrants are so easily grouped and characterized, and how we are automatically perceived, both negatively and positively. To your point, I wouldn’t want to reduce the world to some homogeneous cultural wash. But at the same time, I do believe the world tends to put so much emphasis on the idea of “otherness” that the idea of simply being a human being begins to erode in the eyes of many.
Mike, thanks a lot for reading and I'm happy to see it inspired you to share your own foreigner story. I think it's very interesting to observe how we are perceived in different environments or cultures, isn't it? How you are perceived so differently on either side of that border. It's a complex topic, I think we all tend to practice group identification, like with many things, I think the intent is what counts the most.
Wonderful essay, Monica.
The idea of national boundaries - the simple consequence of historical inertia - always bugged me for some reason. It's not as if they necessarily trace cultural boundaries. Metropoli, even though they certainly have their challenges, might be a model to look closer at.
Agree, I never understood how some people are so attached to political boundaries, especially how some die for them...! Cultural boundaries are relevant, one doesn't need physical gates to separate people there.
Excellent essay, Monica. So many brilliant questions! Even as technology brings us closer together, humans evolve slowly. Fear of foreigners that has been around forever will continue. We have made travel and crossing borders easier. As you point out, people from many EU countries can move and settle freely in other countries. Most don’t however, so those who do will always be a minority amongst those who don’t, and they’ll be treated as “not one of us” by those who stay put.
Great points, Paul! True, humans evovle slowly and still only a small minority moves. I looked for the number some days ago and I think it was 3-4% globally...! Surprisingly small.
The other 97% don’t know what they are missing!
My partner (German) and I (US citizen) moved to Switzerland 25 years ago. During the 17-year-long wait before we could apply for citizenship, we persistently referred to ourselves as “Gastarbeiter.”
The local Swiss were offended by this. Other foreigners found it funny.
Now that we’re Swiss and thus officially allowed to rail against the “economic migrants” who come here hoping for a better life, I refuse to do so.
Hi Caroline, I bet it must have been quite complex to get the Swiss citizenship. I've been a foreigner for almost 20 years, in 3 countries, and I'm not sure anymore how to feel but like a Gastarbeiter. :)
(Sorry for my late response, I was off the grid for a few days)
Such good questions!! !! Here in Melbourne people often talk to me, not to the boyfriend, because I look like """"I'm from here"""" whereas he looks asian. Which is still one of the top communities. It makes zero sense. I should write an article on the everpresent Acknowledgement Of Country when, in reality, First Nations peoples are rarely in the rooms where it happens.
That sounds insane! Not address him because he doesn't look like he's from there?! What world do we live in?! Yes, you should write up something about that. A post about your boyfriend titled "Where are you from, and WHY?" haha
and the sequel “but seriously, where are you REALLY from”
A classic!
Well this was timely! I'm a Brit living in the US now with dual citizenship. I've been here almost 40 years and I must confess I can go weeks without thinking about it. Of course, Britain is one of the favored countries, and not one of Trump's "shithole" countries.
I recently returned from a trip to the Santa Fe area in New Mexico, where Spanish is almost as common as English, cars with Mexican license plates are seen on the street, and there's a large Native American presence. The different ethnic groups seem to mostly get along. There seems to be a general awareness that the Native Americans have been there thousands of years, the Spanish hundreds (NM was part of Mexico longer then it's been part of the US), and white folks just a couple of hundred years. White people are the immigrants. While all of that is true thoughout the Southwest, and as far as Native Americans are concerned, throughout the country, I don't see it recognized statewide anywhere else except Hawaii. May we all become more aware.
Thanks for sharing a bit about how NM "looks" like. I've never been there, but that's what it's about: who is the foreigner there, is anyone a foreigner, or are they parts of the melting pot? I bet it's a culturally interesting State with all the ethnic groups coexisting.
It really felt different to us, almost a different country. We'll be back.
Va ser un article molt interessant!
Moltes gràcies!
Oh, this is an excellent post! Congratulations on your ability to compile this information in such a thorough manner! You raise such insightful points; I appreciate your willingness to share them.
Thanks a lot for your kind words, Katerina!
What an interesting read, Monica. There’s so much that could be said about the concept of being a foreigner and I guess when you’re in a place that is not the one you were born there’ll always be that perception from others, especially if there’s a hint of an accent when speaking the language. Back home, until very recently, if someone from a nearby town came to live to our town they were considered “forasteros” even though they came from 10 km away!!! This always puzzled me as in rural Spain there is a very strong connection between people and the land. In London is quite fascinating how you can forget you’re a foreigner until you are among British people, who tend to remark your accent, where you are from and things other foreigners usually never mention that much. So yes, you can be both integrated in the city and blend in its diversity but equally made feel that you’re not really from here the moment you open your mouth 😂
It's true that a big part of feeling a foreigner is due to our accents. I can imagine the Brits must be picky about the proper way to speak. I think your example with the Spanish villages it's similar to historic times, when people knew everyone in their tribe/village so someone outside that group was automatically a forastero. I'm curious, from which part of Spain are you?
I’m from La Mancha, so the middle of nowhere. But at least we get to fight with each other over where Cervantes really did write Don Quijote 😂
Ahah! 😂 A region I have yet to visit, a writer I have yet to read...
If that’s any consolation, most people in the region (myself included) haven’t read El Quijote. At school they thought it was enough we learned it was written somewhere in the area 🙂
Brilliant piece Monica! I think if we ever were to live in a world where no one is a foreigner anymore (based on where they’re from), I sadly think people would make social class, mobility, political orientation etc an even bigger focus topic.
Othering of people has always been a way to feel belonging and create exclusion of others based on some markers is the basis. There’s a lot of academic research that’s absolutely fascinating, highly recommend 😇
hope I’m not too negative I just read hundreds of peer reviewed papers on this topic over the years
I love this!!!! I am passionate about language and I despise the word expat, albeit there is a slight definition difference between expat and immigrant, I proudly say I am an immigrant. As you said the word immigrant has strong connotations and I feel like my white skin and blue eyes aren’t what is first thought of.
I didn’t know any of the words you said for foreigners, gabacho sounds so much like gaspacho in my head. I suppose being so far south it’s not relevant vocabulary here.
I also hadn’t heard of sudaca either, but when I asked my partner about words for South Americans he did say it. The word I hear more is panchito, I’m not sure where it comes from exactly but I don’t like it either.
They use the word guiri for Northern Europeans, it depends who you ask as to who that includes but I’d be one. But I don’t believe you would be coming from Romania. I use the word guiri for myself, I think a form of taking power over a word that could be used to separate me.
I didn’t know till only very recently that the word alien, illegal or legal, is an official government term!!!! I knew it from the song by The Police ‘I’m an alien, I’m an illegal alien, I’m an immigrant in New York’. But I thought he was referring to how he felt in a foreign country rather than his official visa status!!!!
And lastly, the official word in Spain for foreigner, extranjero that comes from the word stranger. I remember that sitting with my weirdly when I first arrived, that I’d be always known as a stranger… I feel differently after time but words do have power.
I love your last question, are we all just foreign in some way. I can’t help but mention aside from the aboriginals, everyone in Melbourne is foreign! And you could probably do the same about most land around the world, the idea of someone being there first and who was that first person.
Great thought provoking piece!
Great article, Monica - I am glad I accidented upon it. Like you, I’ve always questioned the concept of borders and foreignness. When I read Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, it is the idea of borders and how they can harm us that rang most true for me (the film version didn’t explore this idea well). Being from the U.S., it has always seemed natural for me to think of everyone who isn’t a Native American as a “foreigner”, or rather, someone who has immigrated (with devastating effect to the non-immigrant population, of course). I find it offensive that some members of the “white” population in the U.S. can seriously even consider anyone in that country a “foreigner”.
I now live in Mexico, where I am quite obviously a “foreigner”, a “gringo”. Even though I am a Mexican citizen by birth, my physical appearance makes me foreign in Mexico. It doesn’t bother me to be called a “gringo” - I know it is just an expression, a means of quick and easy identification. And I am cognizant of the fact that the power dynamics of me being a “foreigner” in Mexico are vastly different than the dynamics for non-White people being “foreigners” in the U.S. People in Mexico see me as “wealthy”, or economicially advantaged. Which, compared to the vast majority of people in Mexico, I am. Still, it does create a sense of “otherness”, even though except of my white skin and my U.S. bank account, I feel more aligned to the values of a Mexican person than the values of a U.S. person.
It seems to me that if we are going to practice group selection, selecting on values seems like a better place to start. But those aren’t as easily identifiable as skin color or language or accent. Living in Mexico has given me the opportunity to better reflect on how we immigrants are so easily grouped and characterized, and how we are automatically perceived, both negatively and positively. To your point, I wouldn’t want to reduce the world to some homogeneous cultural wash. But at the same time, I do believe the world tends to put so much emphasis on the idea of “otherness” that the idea of simply being a human being begins to erode in the eyes of many.
Mike, thanks a lot for reading and I'm happy to see it inspired you to share your own foreigner story. I think it's very interesting to observe how we are perceived in different environments or cultures, isn't it? How you are perceived so differently on either side of that border. It's a complex topic, I think we all tend to practice group identification, like with many things, I think the intent is what counts the most.