Tragedies of exile: candid encounters with expats (part 1)

During my two years in Asia, some of the most intriguing people I met were expats. Some were genial and intelligent, others were obnoxious, but not one was ever dull. Settling down for brief periods in India, Malaysia and other places, I became an expat myself. I experienced a weird kind of dislocation, a confusion about who I was and what I was doing. Despite my keenness to integrate, I had many fears and anxieties. Such feelings were new to me; I wanted to understand them better. I decided to interview a number of expats about their attitudes, motives and desires. I became fascinated not only by their personal stories, but with the wider phenomenon of expatriation itself.