E xpatriates can be the source of many positive things. They are contributors to the welfare of their host nation. They are often agents of trenchant criticism, perceiving things in their new nation that natives either do not, or refuse to, see. They educate and enrich.
But today I want to look not at the "expatriate as enricher" but at the "expatriate as whiner or kvetch."
I have lived in America, Europe (both Eastern and Western), Australia and Japan, and believe you me, nobody whines and kvetches like an expatriate, wherever they may be. I've seen it innumerable times. Your standard complaint begins with "Where I come from . . ." Then there follows a monologue about how things are done so much better in "my" country; how foreigners are treated so much more equitably there. Despite this, most of these expatriates prefer to live in their host country rather than go back to "the green, green grass of home."