A Conversation for Talking Point: Getting Back in Touch with Old Friends
The ex-pat phenomenon
Inkwash Started conversation Aug 19, 2004
Moving abroad was, for me, an extention of what I encountered when I went to university; that my school friends were people I communicated with over letters/e-mail, if at all, and that reunions became something of a must if I was ever in my home town.
This always raises two issues for me:
First, that much as I like to see my friends when I get the opportunity, the feeling that I *have* to does take some of the joy out.
Second, my hopes are invariably high, and one has to remind oneself that the past can't be relived. We won't tell the same jokes and go to the same places to do the same crazy things.
We've moved on, grown up, and are essentially different people who we have to get to know all over again.
I've got round this by not putting pressure on myself to meet up every time I go home. I reason that people understand when I say that visiting my family (who are quite spread out) gets first priority.
As for the fact that people have changed, that doesn't really matter. Catching up on people's new lives is the whole joy of a reunion, and a bit of reminiscing and a couple of old in-jokes always help to make things go smoothly.
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The ex-pat phenomenon
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