It goes without saying that culture shock is part of the territory when relocating abroad — perhaps even bookended by reverse culture shock when repatriating years later! But another common challenge, far less discussed, is the culture shock you’ll experience within your own expat community.
You would think that being American would be enough to fit into an American community overseas. We’re just one big melting pot out of our element together, right? In my overseas assignments, however, I’ve observed social differences that seemed related more to regionality, rather than nationality. For example, many of the U.S. expats I met in Tokyo had transferred there from NYC’s finance industry — a culture equally foreign to an American from rural Oregon.
In light of current political divisions in the United States, and with a year of repatriation giving me the benefit of hindsight, I believe these fractures merit closer inspection.