Reddit reviews Expat (Adventura Books)

I was born in the United States, but I was raised in Southeast Asia. We moved to Connecticut when I was 10. My parents went to college in Connecticut and had me after they graduated, so they chose to move back to same town where I was born.

My family was upper middle class in our home country. My dad made $200,000 a year, and my mom stayed at home. They bought a beautiful new house. My mom and I painted my room pink. My siblings shared a room full of the latest toys. We had two nice cars in the driveway.

We left all of that abruptly to save our lives. My dad’s close friend was running against a corrupt politician. That politician instructed his henchmen to eliminate his opposition’s associates one by one. The gang followed my dad home. They threatened his life. They threatened our lives. My dad left our home country and got a small apartment for us, and we followed three months later with my uncle’s help. My parents couldn’t get all of their assets, so our life was hard for a few years. We had a beat up car, depended on the local food pantry for groceries, and got second-hand clothes. Our extended family back home stole our money and property from our house while we were gone. When my brother passed away, we barely had money to bury him. I cried a lot. My parents probably cried a lot too.

My parents are still tight-lipped about the circumstances that forced us to leave, but I heard some of the details when they were being interviewed by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). My family was granted political asylum and eventually got their green cards. I’m a US citizen because I was born here. My sister became a naturalized citizen a few years ago, and my parents just applied for citizenship last month.

We were only going to stay here for 3 years, but it has been 21 years. We are happy here, and we don’t really want to go back to our home country. It took me a while to like it here. I had to learn English, learn how to dress, and get familiar with American customs. I was bullied in middle school because I didn’t have nice clothes, I couldn’t speak English, and I didn’t have friends. Now I’m just another Asian-American who speaks fluent English and living a typical “American life.”


Edit: I’m currently reading Expat by Christina Henry De Tessan . De Tessan collected essays from women who have lived abroad and put them together into this book. I highly recommend it.