Expat Woman of the Month!

From the looks of me in the above photos, what country wouldn't want to get rid of me? (Posing in Zacatecas, Mexico at left; on yak in Vinales, Cuba, at right)

So I was quite surprised --and honored--to be selected as the Expat Mentor for June at ExpatWomen.com

Actually I don't like the words expat or expatriate; there's just such a negative sound to them, you know, like ex-con, or ex-wife, ex-promqueen, even ex-millionaire.

Expatriate sounds as if I've been kicked out of my country, or I left it because I hated it, or I failed somehow, something bad, an exile, you know? It's even worse when it's mistakenly spelled expatriot, which connotes even more being against one's country, a spy or terrorist or something. If Paul Revere was one of our greatest patriots, who would be our greatest expatriot?

I guess I don't want to be an ex-anything.

I would prefer a more positive-sounding word to explain that yes, I moved to France, and to Mexico, and to Argentina to live. I'm thankful for the opportunities I've had to learn and enjoy other cultures and languages, but I still think the U.S. is the best country in the world despite its faults. Sometimes you have to leave it to appreciate it.

I know, maybe I'm a multipatriate! How does that sound?
And being a mentor in any case can be only positive.