Making Friends As An Expat

I’m always surprised to read and hear grumbles from expats about the temporary nature of friendships they make in their temporary homes. “We no sooner get friendly with people than we or they up-sticks and head off to somewhere else!” Especially in these days of easy worldwide communications, that kind of thinking doesn’t make sense. … Read more

Newcomers to Cayman

New middle-class expats in Cayman often arrive with stars in their eyes, expecting a perfect tropical paradise. The facilities are excellent, the wages are high (which means that savings are high by home standards), and the sun, sea and sand are indeed as per the brochures. The social life is whatever you want it to … Read more

Mixed Marriages In The Cayman Islands

Mixed marriages in the Cayman Islands are not the same as the mixed marriages of my youth. My parents had a mixed marriage, beginning in 1938 in Dad’s mother’s home town of Toowoomba, Australia. It was always an embarrassment to his mother and her side of the family, and her friends. Dad’s cousin and boyhood … Read more

The Native Caymanians

In last month's column (my first) I mentioned the tendency of expats of all classes and origins to feel an affinity with one another. We share a contempt for the anti-immigrant policies and attitudes of what I call The Immigration Monster – the Civil Service Immigration Department, the Committees and Boards packed with political cronies, … Read more

Cayman’s Expats – 57 Varieties, And Counting

One of the most thrilling things about being an expat is mixing with foreigners in one’s everyday life – people whose customs and cultures and national histories are different from our own. My small island (50,000 people, 80 square miles) is home to at least 50 nationalities – or 60, or 70, or more; the … Read more