Xpat: Letter from the Editor, Spring '08

Design by Matt Gibson
http://matt-gibson.org/

Greetings Xpats,

Welcome to a new year and a new editor here at Xpat Magazine. After three years of sterling work, Matt has passed the torch to me and I intend to keep it burning brightly. I’m up for the task with many years of writing experience and a deep love of xpat life.

As an xpat my first gig teaching English was in Surratthani, Thailand. If you’ve ever been to Kho Pang Nang or Kho Tao, Surratthani was the shit-box town where you caught the ferry. It was one of the best years of my life; great people, fine food and islands on my doorstep. I finished work every Friday afternoon in time to sip cocktails on the porch of my bungalow and watch the sun set. It was the life.

I’d still be there today if things had worked out differently.

One of the many struggles of living in a rural Thai town was finding things to read. You could buy books on the islands but they were pricey. Newspapers arrived in the late afternoon at two stores in town, and would be read for days from the headlines to sports section. Magazines were a special treat. They would come from home in care packages and would be passed around until the covers fell off. They were mostly women’s magazines and pretty light on intellectual stimulation. You should be glad you have Xpat.

Then I met a girl. We were together for three glorious months. Unfortunately, she’d already bought a ticket to Istanbul to follow her dream of living in the only city in the world that spans two continents. My brother once told me, “never chase women or buses – another one will come along in ten minutes.” Well, I’ve never been big on following advice, so when my contract finished I took all my money and bought a ticket to Istanbul. I flew out of a tropical paradise and landed in a city of 20 million people with lightly falling snow.

We had an awesome year drinking tea, smoking nargile and playing tavla by the Bospherous in a city that had been the capital of five empires. The search for literature was easier there. Istanbul has been a home to xpats for over two thousand years.

I’d always dreamed of riding the Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow. So when our contracts in Istanbul ended we looked to Asia to fund the voyage. But where to go? Japan? Too cold and expensive. Korea? Cold and kimchi diet. Taiwan? Hmmm Taiwan. Taipei? No, too big. Kaohsiung? Hmmm…. Kaohsiung.

Since then, Kaohsiung has been our home. In Taiwan our quest for reading material has continued. We’re lucky here to have decent—albeit expensive, book stores. We’re even luckier to have Xpat Magazine. So, it’s with great reverence and respect that I take over as managing editor of this periodical and vow to bring to you more of the well-written stories, half-baked opinions and a deeper understanding of Taiwanese culture; a culture which, at first, is strange and alien.


In my years living as an xpat I’ve realised: the longer you stay in an alien environment the more you realise that those things which separate us as humans are much less important than those that bind us together. We all have the same origin and ultimately, the same destiny.

So enjoy the Spring ‘08 edition and feel free to get in touch with any questions, comments or submissions – remember that this flaming torch of a magazine is for us, and by us. Keep reading, keep supporting our sponsors and keep spreading cultural understanding wherever you go.

Peace out,

Al